Weekly Mass Torts Bulletin 2022-Apr-11

Florida lawsuit's settlement of $870 million is accepted by the defendants to get rid of the opioid lawsuits, but Walgreens Co. is still reluctant to accept the agreement.

Walgreens has more than 9,000 outlets on street corners throughout the country. The state's case would be heard by a jury seated in Pasco County, Florida, just north of Tampa. The trial in the case for the opening statement is set for early next week.

A spokesman for Walgreens stated that the company would not settle and is prepared for the trial. Florida's Attorney General Ashley Moody stated that Walgreens plays a critical role in the opioid epidemic as one Walgreens outlet in the town of Hudson, Florida, consisting of about 12,000 residents, sold 2.2 million opioid tablets. As per the estimates, other Walgreens locations increased their opioid orders by 600% in a two-year period.

The AG made a statement blaming Walgreens for fueling the opioid crisis in the state, and the case against them will surely make the company pay for its wrongdoing. Walgreens, on the other hand, has denied the state's allegations.

The U.S. has recorded more than 500,000 deaths over the past two decades, which include deaths due to prescription painkillers such as OcyContin and generic oxycodone, along with illegally produced fentanyl and illicit drug heroin.

In a similar case as Walgreens, CVS Health Corp. and CVS Pharmacy Inc. will pay $484 million to the state. Even Allergan PLC and Teva Pharmaceuticals will pay more than $134 million and $195 million, respectively.

Other drug companies, including McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., Johnson & Johnson Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp. have already paid millions of dollars in opioid settlements, which makes Walgreens the sole defendant in the case.

The state government of Massachusetts will get $310 million, and the cities and towns of the state will get more than $210 million from the opioid manufacturers and distributors to deal with the addiction and overdose problem.

A national settlement of $26 billion has been reached between the states and the drug distributors and manufacturers. As per the settlement, Massachusetts would receive a larger share of $525 million, unlike other states, cities and towns.

Attorney General Maura Healey said that the funding is not sufficient to undo the havoc created due to the opioid epidemic, but still, it is a sigh of relief for the opioid-affected people of Massachusetts.  Massachusetts will get the first two settlement payments by this spring and summer, with yearly installments slated from 2023 to 2038.

The settlement amount would vary as per the county and towns on basis of area and population. For example, the Berkshire County town of Alford will get just $1,566 over the next 16 years, whereas Boston will get more than $22 million over the same span.

The settlement amount received by Massachusetts would be used in the prevention, harm reduction and addiction treatment of the opioid crisis, as the epidemic has killed more than 21,000 Massachusetts residents since 2000.

In a similar lawsuit, Florida is set to receive an $878 million settlement from CVS Health Corp and three drug companies to deal with the opioid crisis. Another verdict stated that Hamilton County and Northern Kentucky counties would get $55million and $20million, respectively, to abate the opioid epidemic.

Endo Health Solutions will pay $26 million as a settlement to West Virginia for the company's role in fueling the opioid crisis in the state, which created havoc among the communities.

The company announced the settlement just before the trial that took place on Monday, where the state has sued three opioid manufacturers Allergan, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey informed that even Endo would have been part of the trial if the company would have failed to reach a settlement over the last several months with the state. In 2019, West Virginia sued all four drug companies and their subsidiaries.

As per the settlement, the money would be used to develop programmes that would help to fight the opioid addiction problems in the state. It even mandates Endo not to make false or deceptive statements about opioids and stop the promotion of opioids for treating pain.

In a similar lawsuit in 2019, Boone County Circuit Court accused Endo of mischaracterizing and failing to disclose the severe risk of opioid addiction by overstating the benefits of opioid therapy and promoting higher dosage of opioids by withholding the risks. The state alleged that Endo rebranded the drug with a new name Opana with a new colour.

West Virginia alleges that the manufacturers used a deceiving strategy to sell the drugs by persuading doctors to prescribe opioids for minor pain conditions. The attorney general’s office notified that the trial could take up to two months.

CVS Health Corp and three drug companies have reached an $878 million settlement with Florida to avoid the next month's trial over the companys' role in fueling the opioid crisis.

As per the agreement, Endo International Plc will pay $65 million, Allergan unit will pay $134.2 million, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd will pay $194.8 million and CVS will pay $484 million of the settlement amount.

Most of the settlement amount would be used to take necessary measures to control the future opioid crisis. Teva will also provide a generic Narcan nasal spray worth $84 million. The spray can temporarily reverse the effects of opioid overdoses.

All four companies have denied the allegations in the opioid lawsuits. A similar $26 million settlement has also been reached between Endo and West Virginia.

On April 4, West Virginia will proceed to trial against Johnson & Johnson, Teva and Allergan over the opioid crisis. Even Florida will proceed with a trial with jury selection on April 5 against the pharmacy chain Walgreens.

Florida's latest claims have been covered in Walgreens' 2012 opioid-related settlement. It will also defend the pharmacists, as informed by the company.

CVS and Teva informed that they would continue to defend against other opioid lawsuits. Teva announced that it is negotiating similar claims of the national settlement. The spokesperson for Allergan informed that it has covered the claims through settlement for generic opioids it sold to Teva in 2016.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the country reported the death of more than 500,000 people due to opioid overdoses, with 75,673 in the year ending April 2021.