New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday that the state has finalized a $523 million settlement with Teva over claims that the pharmaceutical company contributed to the U.S. opioid crisis, following a jury verdict last year finding the company partially responsible for fueling the epidemic.
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AG James said that the deal is the largest that her office has reached with an individual defendant. In December of last year, a Long Island jury found that Teva played a part in the crisis in the state and specifically created a public nuisance in Suffolk and Nassau counties, which both tried their cases parallel to the attorney general’s office.
“Teva knowingly and intentionally misled New Yorkers and the American people about the deadly dangers of opioids, and last year, a jury found them responsible for the devastation and destruction they have caused,” Attorney General James claimed in a statement.
If the respective county legislatures approve the deal, the settlement would also resolve those lawsuits.
“We are holding Teva Pharmaceuticals accountable for its role in the opioid crisis and the irreparable harm it has done to New Yorkers, their families, and their communities,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul stated in reference to the case. “This company misrepresented its products for decades, flooding the market with dangerous prescription drugs and endangering countless lives.”
Additionally, the deal ends administrative charges brought by the state’s Department of Financial Services against Teva for insurance fraud, according to the statement.
“The false information that Teva and other opioids manufacturers propagated about the safety of their drugs inflicted tremendous damage on the lives of countless people, while also abusing the health insurance system,” Superintendent of Financial Services Adrienne A. Harris said in an official statement.
In December, a jury found that Teva Pharmaceuticals contributed to the crisis of opioid abuse in the Empire State, but also placed a small portion of the blame for the epidemic on the state.
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Source: https://www.law360.com/articles/1546283/ny-reaches-523m-opioid-deal-with-teva
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