Nevada and drugstore major CVS have negotiated a nearly $152 million settlement to be paid over the next ten years to terminate a lawsuit over opioid allegations.
According to the attorney general, CVS bargained in good faith, and their cooperation with Nevada will assist that state combat the opioid crisis. The payment is one of the ten largest over opioid claims between a single state and a single firm, according to the reports. Additionally, it estimates that Nevada will collect $606 million in total from opioid case settlements since 2020. It represents the biggest settlement the state has ever obtained in a single opioid-related lawsuit.
In the action that was filed in June 2019, the state sued a number of businesses, including CVS. Teva Pharmaceuticals is the subject of an ongoing case, and the state is preparing for trial in August.
Over $50 billion has been agreed upon as settlements for litigation involving the national opioid crisis between drug manufacturers, pharmacies, distributors, and other businesses. The majority of the funds will be used to address the overdose issue, which is responsible for more than 100,000 fatalities annually in the United States.
Some states have benefited more from their proportionate share in national or multistate settlements. In order to resolve litigation about the harm caused by opioids, CVS agreed to pay roughly $5 billion to state and municipal governments last year. But in order to seek the single-state settlement, Nevada chose not to participate in that case.
In April 2022, Nevada signed another multi-state deal worth $232 million over almost two decades with three of the major opioid producers in the country.
A coalition of Nevada county and local governments will get roughly $80 million of the CVS settlement, according to the attorney general, while the state will keep around $70 million. He added proposals for how to use the funds to lessen the opioid problem will be made by a team of specialists.
In order to assist prevent the misuse of opioids, CVS also committed to creating an oversight program with a record of prescriptions, patients, and prescriber "red flags". In a statement, a CVS representative expressed the company's satisfaction with the agreement with Nevada. It was highlighted in the statement that doctors, not chemists, write prescriptions for opioids. It did not go into detail on the oversight scheme.
