Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Teva Pharmaceuticals on Thursday agreed to pay $523 million to settle claims regarding the company's role in the opioid crisis in New York.
Attorney General Letitia James called the agreement the largest amount secured from an individual opioid defendant as the state targets opioid manufacturers and distributors.
James said in a statement that Teva "knowingly and intentionally" misled consumers about the deadly dangers of opioids and was found responsible for the devastation of the opioid crisis by jury last year.
"You cannot put a price on lives lost, addiction suffered, and families torn apart, but with the more than $2 billion we have now delivered to New Yorkers, we can continue to rebuild and recover," James said.
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"This is a landmark day in our battle against the opioid crisis, and I am proud to be able to deliver critical funding and resources to the communities Teva and other companies ravaged with their rampant misconduct."
The settlement agreement was also confirmed by Teva CEO Kåre Schultz in an earnings call with investors, who noted that the settlement ends litigation in the state and that the company is "quite satisfied" with the outcome.
"And it's done in the way that New York basically signs on to the national agreement, which has a certain value. And then they also get what you call a trial bump because they have a verdict against us. They get some extra money," Schultz said.
"What's important for us is, of course, that the national agreement is what we already had accrued for. We had also accrued for the premium for New York, most of it, and we now have an arrangement where the extra money they get, they get it over 18 years, which is good for us because it means that it's very manageable in relation to our cash flow and our debt situation."
Schultz' comments referenced a tentative nationwide settlement of $4.2 billion that was reached in July to settle all litigation related to the opioid crisis.
Thursday's settlement agreement, however, notes that Teva does not admit to "any liability, fault or wrongdoing by Teva" but commits the company to injunctive relief preventing it from manufacturing and distributing high-dose opioids, marketing opioids and restrictions on political lobbying among other restrictions.
"The false information that Teva and other opioids manufacturers propagated about the safety of their drugs inflicted tremendous damage on the lives of countless people, while also abusing the health insurance system," Adrienne A. Harris, superintendent of financial services, said in a statement.
"No monetary penalty can undo the immeasurable harm the opioid crisis has dealt to families across the country, but DFS is proud to have played a role in bringing about this resolution, holding opioid manufacturers and distributors accountable for their actions."
