Teva's $85M Opioid Settlement Hits Another Checkpoint

Teva's $85M Opioid Settlement Hits Another Checkpoint

Introduction

Teva's $85 million opioid lawsuit settlement approval has been declined by an Oklahoma judge until it complies to a new law governing how state-involved settlements are paid before it will be approved.

The suit is the nation's first trial against numerous pharmaceutical companies that make opioids, including Teva and Johnson & Johnson for an epidemic of painkiller abuse. The allegations also cover multiple companies that Teva has acquired over the years, including Cephalon Inc. and Actavis Generics. Following the lawsuit, Teva announced its $85 million settlement in May, just before the trial began. In a similar trial held in March, OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP made a settlement of $270 million.

U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over more than 1,900 suits filed by U.S. cities and counties of which more than 1,600 cases are filed largely by local governments, Native American tribes, and hospitals. The first trial in the MDL No. 2804 is set to start in October 2019.