Teva Pharmaceuticals, one of the nation’s largest makers of generic opioids, announced a settlement in principle with about 2,500 local governments, states and tribes over the company’s role in the deadly, ongoing opioid epidemic.
The deal — worth up to $4.25 billion — came after a series of tumultuous lawsuits and previous settlements in separate cases across the country over the past year.
Although much less well-known, Teva, an Israeli company, and its subsidiaries produced far more prescription opioids during the peak years of the crisis than opiate makers with names like Johnson & Johnson. Its production of both generic and brand-name painkillers dwarfs that of Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, the drug most directly linked to triggering an avalanche of overdoses and deaths.
Under the deal, Teva will make payments over 13 years aimed at state, local and tribal programs to ease the opioid crisis, which has only worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. The $4.25 billion total included nearly $550 million in settlements the company had already reached by the time trials began in San Francisco, as well as in Florida, West Virginia, Texas, Louisiana and Rhode Island.
States and communities may choose to accept a portion of their payments in overdose reversal drugs rather than cash.
Fentanyl Overdose: What You Need to Know
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Understand the effects of fentanyl. Fentanyl is a strong and fast-acting drug, two qualities that also make it highly addictive. A little goes a long way, so it’s easy to overdose. With fentanyl, there is only a short window of time to intervene and save a person’s life during an overdose.
Stick to licensed pharmacies. Prescription drugs sold online or by unlicensed dealers, sold as OxyContin, Vicodin and Xanax, are often fortified with fentanyl. Only take pills that are prescribed by your doctor and from a licensed pharmacy.
Talk to your loved ones. The best way to prevent fentanyl use is to educate your loved ones, including teenagers, about it. Explain what fentanyl is and that it can be found in pills bought online or from friends. Aim to establish an ongoing dialogue in short bursts rather than one long, formal conversation.
Learn how to spot an overdose. When someone overdoses on fentanyl, breathing slows down and their skin often takes on a bluish tint. If you think someone is overdosing, call 911 immediately. If you’re worried that a loved one may be exposed to fentanyl, you may want to buy naloxone, a drug that can quickly reverse an opioid overdose and is often available in local pharmacies without a prescription.
The deal was negotiated by representatives of about a dozen attorneys general. “Today’s announcement shows once again that those responsible for this tragic problem will be held accountable and help will be available for those affected by the opioid epidemic,” Tom Miller, Iowa’s attorney general, whose office is involved in the negotiations, said in a statement.
Teva said in a statement: “While the settlement will not include an admission of wrongdoing, it remains in our best interest to put these cases behind us and continue to focus on the patients we serve every day.”
People close to the negotiations said that about 10-12% of the money would be set aside for the fees of the lawyers who, since 2013, have brought the cases against the company.
In 2016, Teva acquired Actavis, the generics unit of Allergan. For the Teva deal to be finalized, Allergan must also reach a settlement with those plaintiffs. Lawyers familiar with the negotiations said they expect that announcement to be made soon.
The deal also depends on a large majority of state, local and tribal governments voting in favor of it.
The opioid crisis
From powerful pharmaceuticals to illegally manufactured synthetics, opioids are fueling America’s deadly drug crisis.
Lawyers from an executive committee negotiating for local authorities urged everyone to support the hard-won deal: “We encourage all these groups to sign this agreement to allow these resources to get into the hands of those who need them as quickly as possible ,” they said in a statement.
While that outcome seems likely, one participating state, among the dozen that negotiated the terms, has yet to sign on: New York, along with Nassau and Suffolk counties, which prevailed against Teva in a civil suit last December. Under the shadow of a second phase of that process to determine financial compensation, New York is still negotiating with the company, a spokesman for the New York attorney general’s office said.
Getting an acceptable bid from Teva has been a particularly long battle for the states, tribes and municipalities that have filed lawsuits against it. While Purdue Pharma, for example, is often associated with pushy and misleading marketing of its brand-name drugs to doctors, generic drug makers are not officially called out. Teva claims it did not sell its opioids to doctors.
One of Teva’s initial settlement proposals in 2019 consisted almost entirely of drugs, along with a small amount of cash. While Johnson & Johnson and the three drug distributors that also participated in that early bid struck a deal two years later, Teva continued to litigate.
But in December 2020, the Senate Finance Committee released findings that were particularly critical of Teva, among other manufacturers, for the millions of dollars it paid to tax-exempt groups that lobbied lawmakers and others pushing for greater access patients to pain medication. During the trial, plaintiffs said Teva, which has carved out a dominant position in the generic drug market by buying smaller companies, ignored red flags, such as large pill orders.
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