The settlement will provide West Virginia with $75 million over 15 years in addition to $8 million in attorneys’ fees and costs incurred during the trial. Teva will also provide its life-saving medicine, the generic version of Narcan® (naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray), valued at $27 million (wholesale acquisition cost), over 10 years. The settlement structure is consistent with previously announced settlements.
AbbVie’s Allergan unit will pay $51.2 million toward the total settlement. Johnson & Johnson and Endo International Plc also settled West Virginia opioid claims: Endo settled before the trial began and J&J settled two weeks into the trial.
The settlement is the largest state-negotiated settlement in West Virginia history, and consists of $134 million in cash plus the contribution of drugs used to treat opioid overdoses.
The West Virginia settlement guarantees an additional payout if Teva and Allergan reach a nationwide deal worth more than $7.2 billion in settlements of their nationwide opioid liability.
West Virginia had accused Teva and Allergan of deceiving prescribers about the risks of opioids when marketing their drugs for the treatment for chronic pain. The misleading marketing led to an increase in substance abuse and overdose deaths, according to West Virginia’s complaint.
The settlement ended a trial that had been proceeding for two months in Kanawha County Circuit Court. Teva did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
West Virginia experienced more than three times the national rate of opioid overdose deaths in 2020. The settlement with West Virginia is another critical step forward in getting life-saving treatments to people suffering from addiction to opioids. The settlement agreement is not an admission of any liability or wrongdoing, and Teva continues to actively negotiate a national settlement. Teva expects to pay about $2.6 billion in cash and medicine to settle the thousands of lawsuits against it involving the opioid pandemic in the United States.
More than 3,300 lawsuits have been filed against drug-makers, distributors, and pharmacies over the opioid crisis in the United States.
Over the past twenty years, opioid abuse has skyrocketed in West Virginia and around the country. From 1999 to 2015, the number of prescriptions tripled for powerful opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone. This increase in supply paralleled a dramatic rise in opioid-related overdose deaths, emergency room visits, and admissions for substance abuse treatment. In 2017, drug overdose became the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50.
As more and more West Virginians are killed or incarcerated as a result of opioid addiction, West Virginia’s foster care system has been overwhelmed with the children who are left behind. As of January 2020, more than 7,000 children in West Virginia are in state care—a 71% increase over the past decade.
The number of hydrocodone pills dispensed in West Virginia dropped from nearly 100 million in 2011 to just under 38 million in 2018: oxycodone dropped from nearly 44 million to under 25 million.
If you or a loved one have suffered serious harm as a result of opioids in the United States, you should promptly find a medical malpractice attorney in your state who may investigate your opioid claim for you and represent you or your loved one in an opioid case, if appropriate.
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