Ohio counties, drug firms reach $260 million settlement in opioid epidemic case, averting trial
Source: Washington Post
CLEVELAND --Two Ohio counties settled with four drug companies on the eve of a landmark federal trial over responsibility for the opioid epidemic, in a $260 million deal that emerged just an hour before opening arguments were set to begin Monday.
The deal is with the “Big Three” distributors McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health and Teva Pharmaceuticals, the Israeli-based manufacturer of generic opioids. It does not include the fifth defendant, Walgreens, the retail drug store chain that was sued over its own distribution operation. It was not clear whether a trial would proceed with Walgreens as the only defendant. A sixth defendant, Henry Schein Medical dropped out of the trial after reaching a settlement worth $1.25 million with the counties. Details of the agreement were set to be announced later Monday morning. Late last night, the companies were still negotiating.
Going to trial could have cost the drug companies more than $8 billion if Cuyahoga and Summit counties were awarded all the money they were seeking. It also buys the companies time to try to fashion a more wide-ranging settlement with the 2,400 cities, counties, Native American tribes and others that have sued the drug industry. Their cases have been consolidated in a sprawling “multidistrict litigation” before a federal judge here.
The Ohio counties would receive $215 million in cash from the distributors and another $20 million from Teva, according to people aware of the settlement, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. Teva also would supply another $25 million in anti-addiction medication.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/ohio-counties-drug-firms-reach-260m-settlement-averting-trial/2019/10/21/c9ac1dd4-f39f-11e9-ad8b-85e2aa00b5ce_story.html
Original NYT article -
CLEVELAND — The three major drug distributors and an opioid manufacturer have reached a settlement to avoid the landmark first federal opioid trial that was set to begin here Monday.
The deal was struck in the early dawn hours and is expected to be announced in court this morning. People familiar with the discussions said a broader settlement to resolve thousands of cases brought by local governments and states could be announced later in the day by state attorneys general.
The drug distributors involved in the settlement are McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen. Teva, the Israeli-based manufacturer of generic drugs, is also a part of the settlement. Walgreens, the pharmacy chain, is still going forward with the trial for now.
This developing story will be updated.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/21/health/opioid-settlement.html
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Instead, the penalties should be based on a proportion of the mega profits these bastards made...
