Israeli drugmaker Teva agreed to pay the US state Oklahoma $85 million to settle a
lawsuit accusing it of complicity in the opioid epidemic, which has killed thousands
(AFP Photo/JACK GUEZ)
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Washington (AFP) - Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva agreed on Sunday to pay the US state of Oklahoma $85 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of fueling the state's opioid epidemic, Oklahoma's attorney general said.
The
announcement comes after Purdue Pharma, maker of the opioid painkiller
OxyContin -- a key driver of the crisis responsible for tens of thousands of
deaths in the United States -- reached a $270 million settlement with the state
in March.
Attorney
General Mike Hunter said in a statement the Teva settlement shows Oklahoma's
"resolve to hold the defendants in this case accountable for the ongoing
opioid overdose and addiction epidemic that continues to claim thousands of
lives each year."
The money
will be used by the midwestern state to fight the opioid crisis, Hunter said,
with an announcement of how exactly it will be spent made in the future.
Meanwhile,
another pharmaceutical titan, Johnson & Johnson, is set to go on trial in
Oklahoma on Tuesday, with the company facing similar accusations that it
aggressively promoted opioid painkillers despite knowing the risks of
addiction.
Overdoses
from prescription painkillers and heroin -- a last-resort illicit drug for
opioid addicts -- exploded over the last 20 years, according to the National
Institute on Drug Abuse.
Almost
400,000 people have died from an overdose involving prescription or illicit
opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Pop icon
Prince and rocker Tom Petty were among the high-profile victims of the
epidemic.
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