Israeli generic drugmaker Teva announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement in principle to pay more than $4 billion to the United States to settle lawsuits over its role in the opioid crisis.
At the origin of more than 500,000 overdose deaths in 20 years in the United States, this health disaster gave rise to a myriad of procedures launched by communities. Several companies have already agreed to pay to end it.
“Teva has reached an agreement in principle” with representatives of states, Native American tribes and other plaintiffs “on the financial provisions of a nationwide opioid agreement,” the group announced Tuesday on the occasion of the publication of its results of the second quarter.
No acknowledgment of guilt
“Teva will pay up to $4.25 billion … and around $100 million to the tribes over 13 years,” the Israel-based company said in a statement.
This figure includes the financing, up to 1,200 million dollars, of distributions of an anti-overdose drug.
The settlement does not provide for an admission of guilt by the pharmaceutical group.
Teva, under the influence of various lawsuits, has already concluded agreements with certain American states.
Teva was a leading manufacturer of generic opioid drugs.
90,000 dead last year
Many companies have announced that they are paying hundreds of millions of dollars to end legal action for their role in the opioid crisis.
Johnson & Johnson, Purdue and other pharmaceutical companies and distributors are accused of encouraging doctors to over-prescribe these drugs even though they knew they were highly addictive.
90,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2020, three quarters of which involved opiates. The US Department of Health estimates that this crisis was responsible for four years of decreased life expectancy in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Source: BFM TV
