Opioid maker Teva to pay $523M settlement over its role in New York epidemic, AG James says

Calling it "a landmark day" in the fight against the opioid epidemic that has claimed countless lives statewide, including thousands on Long Island, New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday announced a $523 million settlement with top opioid manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals and its affiliates.

The total figure comprises two agreements: New York's share of the Teva Global Settlement, a $4.247 billion nationwide deal to settle opioid claims, and the remedies the state is collecting after a seven-month jury trial against Teva and other opioid manufacturers and distributors in 2021.

The settlement also resolves lawsuits brought against Teva by Nassau and Suffolk counties, James said, pending approval by their respective county legislatures.

The Suffolk case, decided in December when a jury voted to hold Teva Pharmaceuticals USA and its affiliates liable for the opioid epidemic, targeted the drug's entire supply chain, including manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies.

Newsday has reported that many of the original defendants in the case — including Johnson & Johnson, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid — agreed to settlements before the trial began in late June 2021.

Others reached deals with the state and individual counties during the trial.

"This is a landmark day in our battle against the opioid crisis," James said in a statement.

The attorney general's office announced the settlement would be paid out over a period of 18 years and said the agreement committed Teva to "critical injunctive relief."

That includes banning high-dose opioids, instituting prohibitions on marketing opioids and funding third parties that promote them, restricting political lobbying and more.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”