Allergan and Teva, two manufacturers of opioids, have agreed to pay $54 million in cash and medications to reverse overdoses to settle a federal lawsuit filed by San Francisco that claimed the drug business was responsible for a spike in overdoses and addiction that resulted in a public nuisance.
The statement was made on Tuesday before the last defense arguments against Walgreens, the only surviving defendant, began later in the morning. The drugstore chain is accused in the complaint of over-dosing on opioids without enough monitoring and of failing to recognize and report suspicious orders as required by law.
The number of drug overdose deaths nationwide has increased, including in San Francisco. The Tenderloin district saw the declaration of a state of emergency last year, with officials stating that something needed to be done about the area's high number of drug sellers and users in public places.
According to the city attorney's office, between 2015 and 2020, the number of overdose deaths in San Francisco connected to opioids increased by about 500%, and on an average day, about 25% of visitors to the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Emergency Department are related to opioids. According to the agreement made public on Tuesday, the two opioid producers would provide $20 million in Narcan and $34 million in cash to San Francisco.
The settlement represents a step toward bringing life-saving therapies to those suffering from opioid addiction, according to Teva Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., but it is not an admission of culpability or wrongdoing.
The representative for Walgreens failed to reply to a request for comment, and Allergan did not. Only a small number of government lawsuits brought against corporations because of the opioid epidemic have gone to trial thus far, with the San Francisco case being one of them.
Before trials, more cases were resolved. AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson, and medication manufacturer Johnson & Johnson completed $26 billion in countrywide settlements earlier this year.
A $10 billion arrangement that Purdue Pharma constructed after filing for bankruptcy owing to the numerous lawsuits the manufacturer of OxyContin was facing is currently being reviewed by the court in an effort to get permission.
According to a count by the Associated Press, proposed and final settlements related to the outbreak in the U.S. have cost a combined total of more than $40 billion. The majority of the legal action to far has addressed businesses that manufacture or distribute opioids, although there has also been lawsuit brought against pharmacies.
One drugstore lawsuit has only received a verdict thus far. An Ohio jury determined that CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart supplied opioids carelessly in two counties last year. A judge will decide on their punishment.
