Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. reached a settlement worth $225 million to resolve claims that the company fueled an opioid epidemic in Texas by negligently marketing addictive painkillers, said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday.
Improper marketing of opioids manufactured by pharmaceutical companies causes tragic deaths of thousands of people, yearly. Teva announced that it will continue to pitch a global settlement to resolve all the claims.
The drugmaker will pay $150 million over 15 years and is also willing to offer $75 million worth of generic Narcan, a medication that works as an antidote to opioid toxicity. Attorney General Paxton said the deal is a victory for Texas as well as a huge step in the positive direction to help overcome opioid abuse.
Out of the more than 3,500 lawsuits that Teva faces, this settlement is the largest the pharmaceutical company has struck.
This is a major step towards holding drug companies responsible for an opioid abuse epidemic.
According to the CDC, Texas alone reported 3,136 drug overdose deaths in 2019.