The pharmaceutical company Teva USA announced yesterday (Monday) that it has reached an agreement with the Attorney General of the State of Rhode Island in a lawsuit against it in part in the opioid epidemic in the country.
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Under the terms of the arrangement, Teva will pay Rhode Island $ 21 million over a 13-year period and will supply the generic drug buprenorphineי(naloxone) and will provide free of charge a significant amount of the drug Suboxone For the treatment of opioid addictions with a total value estimated at $ 78.5 million over ten years.
As you may recall, in December last year a New York jury found the pharmaceutical company Teva among the causes responsible for the opioid addiction epidemic, narcotic painkillers, following its aggressive marketing policy. It is estimated that addiction to narcotic painkillers has resulted in the deaths of some 500,000 Americans in the past 20 years.
The jury’s decision was made in a lawsuit in which New York State and two of its counties sued Teva and other opioid manufacturers. The lawsuit alleges that the drug companies’ aggressive marketing policies diminished the risks of painkiller addiction and that the company sought to expand their use beyond the original indication that was for relieving outbursts of pain among terminally ill patients. About 3,300 similar lawsuits have been filed against Teva, most of which have been merged into one case in the state of Ohio.
Buprenorphine drugי(naloxone) is The main drug for the treatment of opioid addiction and is considered the “golden standard”. Naloxone is a life-saving drug that can cause an overdose of opioids.
The company said in a statement that the structure of the agreement is in line with the agreements recently announced by Teva and also includes a significant component of the supply of drugs to meet the current need for Rhode Island for the next ten years, adding expenses for the trial, which was due to begin on March 16, 2022. The Company continues to conduct active negotiations in order to reach a nationwide settlement in the U.S. The agreement does not include an admission of wrongdoing and the Company will continue to defend itself in court in countries where we have not reached the terms of a settlement agreement.