Attorney General James Victorious in New York’s Opioid Trial

Jury Finds Teva Pharmaceuticals USA and Others Responsible for Infringing New Yorkers’ Rights

Next trial to be held to determine how much Teva should pay

Teva payment comes on top of $1.5 billion for New York already negotiated by AG James

NEW YORK — New York Attorney General Letitia James released the following statement today after a jury found Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. :

“This is an important day for New York State. This is an important day for this country. But more importantly, this is an important day for every family and community torn apart by opioids.

“A jury has found an opioid manufacturer responsible for the death and destruction they inflicted on the American people.

“Teva Pharmaceuticals USA” and others misled the American people about the real dangers of opioids, which is why I made a promise in 2019 that our team would hold them and the other manufacturers and distributors responsible for the opioid epidemic responsible for the suffering they have caused.

“Today I think of all those families that will never be whole again. For everyone who has lost their life. For any parent who will never hold their child again. For every community that has been destroyed. But today we have taken an important step in righting the wrongs that this country has collectively experienced over the past two decades.

“I am eternally grateful to the litigation team and all the staff at the Attorney General’s Office who have devoted countless hours to our opioid disputes. Without them, we wouldn’t be providing more than $1.5 billion to New York State to invest in opioid treatment, recovery and education programs.

“While no amount of money will ever compensate for human suffering, addiction, or lives lost to opioid abuse, we will immediately push to continue a process to determine how much Teva and others will pay.”

Another trial will now be held to determine how much Teva and others will have to pay, which will be added to the maximum $1.5 billion that Attorney General James has already negotiated for New York State from several opioid manufacturers and distributors.

In March 2019, Attorney General James filed the country’s most comprehensive lawsuit to hold accountable the various manufacturers and distributors responsible for the opioid epidemic. In addition to Teva, the manufacturers named in the complaint were Purdue Pharma and its subsidiaries, as well as members of the Sackler family (owners of Purdue) and trusts they control; Janssen Pharmaceuticals and its affiliates (including parent company Johnson & Johnson); Mallinckrodt LLC and its subsidiaries; Endo Health Solutions and its affiliates; and Allergan Finance, LLC and its subsidiaries. The distributors named in the complaint were McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health Inc., Amerisource Bergen Drug Corporation and Rochester Drug Cooperative Inc.

Earlier this month, an agreement was reached with Allergan that will provide up to $200 million for opioid control in New York State and Nassau and Suffolk counties. of opioid sales in New York and acknowledges Allergan’s past exit from the opioid business.

In September, an agreement was reached with Endo that has already provided $50 million to New York State and Nassau and Suffolk counties to fight the opioid crisis.

In July, a settlement was announced with McKesson, Cardinal Health and Amerisource Bergen that will provide up to $1 billion to New York State to fight the opioid epidemic.

In June, a settlement was announced that ended Johnson & Johnson’s nationwide sales of opioids and would bring in $230 million in New York alone.

The deals with Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, Cardinal Health and Amerisource Bergen have a global value of approximately $26 billion.

The cases against Mallinckrodt and Rochester Drug Cooperative are now going through the US bankruptcy court separately.

Attorney General James continues to urge that Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family be held accountable for their role in fueling the opioid crisis.

Under the new law establishing the Opioid Settlement Fund, all funds raised by the state from opioid settlements or litigation victories will be allocated specifically to response efforts in communities devastated by the opioid epidemic and not to the General Fund of the Opioid state go.

Separately, but related to her work on opioids, Attorney General James led a coalition of nearly every Attorney General in the nation last February in delivering more than $573 million — more than $32 million of which was earmarked for the state of New York. York – to opioid treatment and reduction in an agreement and consent judgment with McKinsey & Company.

The investigation team was led by senior law enforcement attorney John Oleske and special counsel Monica Hanna. Their work, as well as the work on the settlements, was supported by senior adviser and special prosecutor M. Umair Khan; Assistant Attorney General Conor Duffy, Carol Hunt, Diane Johnston, Leo O’Toole, Jeremy Pfetsch, Noah Popp, Larry Reina, Michael Reisman, Lois Saldana, Jennifer Simcovitch, Louis Testa and Eve Woodin; Project attorneys Wil Handley and Stephanie Torre; Paralegals Ketty Dautruche and Christine Reynolds; Legal Assistant David Payne; Director of Research and Analysis Jonathan Werberg; Data scientists Gautam Sisodia and Chansoo Song; Data analyst Anushua Choudhury; Information technology specialists Hewson Chen and Paige Podolny; E-Discovery Document Review Specialist Kristin Petrella; former special counsel Mandy DeRoche and Elizabeth Chesler; former head of the Care Bureau Lisa Landau; former head of the investment protection firm Peter Pope; and former opioid and impact litigation counsel, David Nachman. The trial and all settlements were all overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.