One of the biggest settlements of claims that a generic drug was marketed improperly was done by its makers Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. The company reached a $225 million settlement with Texas for its highly addictive painkillers known for their opioid effect.
The settlement comprises $150 million in cash payment staggered over 15 years and $75 million worth of overdoes fighting drug Narcan, as per Bloomberg News. The settlement copy was made public by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday.
The settlement ends investigation and lawsuits of the state on Israel-based Teva Industries’ role in creating a public health crisis.
Paxton, in a statement, said that pharmaceutical companies must be answerable for the role of the devastating epidemic. The settlement money received by the state will be used for funding recovery initiatives for helping countless Texans.
Teva Industries is one of the dozen companies, including drugmakers, pharmacies, and distributors, facing lawsuits from the municipalities and states regarding the role of opioid drugs caused by the loss of thousands of lives.
Teva said on Monday that it would seek to settle all global settlements to all litigations.
In an email, Chief Executive Officer and President of Teva, Kare Schultz, said that the company’s settlement with Texas does not include an admission of any wrongdoing by the company or its affiliates; it will seek to settle and put the lawsuits behind and focus on its patients.
Teva’s $150 million cash settlement is the largest among the five opioid accords with the local governments and the U.S. state. In 2019 the company agreed to pay $85 million to Oklahoma to avoid a trial as there were claims that the company marketed the Fundora and ACTi painkillers illegally.
After a nearly seven-month trial in December, a jury in New York found Teva and some of its units creating a public nuisance with misdirected opioid marketing. The judge has set no date on how much the company has to pay to two New York counties as compensation and the state for the billions of dollars against a fighting overdose of opioid addictions.
Teva has offered drugs for fighting overdoes worth $23 billion in addition to $250 million in cash to resolve thousands of cases against the company. So far, the municipalities and states have not come up for the deal.
