Reckitt Benckiser Agrees To Pay $1.4B To End Opioid Crisis

Reckitt Benckiser Agrees To Pay $1.4B To End Opioid Crisis

Introduction

Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a British pharmaceutical company, agreed to pay up to $1.4 billion to settle a long-running probe with the U.S. federal government over sales and marketing of the opioid Suboxone.

On July 11, RB agreed to resolve all federal investigations in connection with the matters of the Indivior indictment and claims relating to state Medicaid programs for the states that choose to participate in the settlement. This would help the company protect its participation in all U.S. government programs.

According to the terms of the settlement, $700 million will be paid to end claims involving marketing of Suboxone that resulted in the submission of false claims to government healthcare programs. This includes $500 million to the federal government and up to $200 million to states that choose to opt into the agreement. RB also agreed for a non-prosecution agreement, under which it will renounce $647 million of proceeds from Indivior and won’t make or market controlled substances in the U.S. for the next three years. It will also cooperate with investigations relating to Suboxone. 

The settlement is considered to be one of the largest so far by any drug company involved in the epidemic of opioid addiction. The previous record was $600 million, paid in 2007 by Purdue Pharma LP.

Opioid lawsuits are consolidated under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation) which is presided by U.S. District Judge Dan Polster.