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Opioid defendants reach settlement to avoid trial

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The settlement is valued at $260 million.

CLEVELAND — According to published reports, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health have all reached a last-minute settlement with two Ohio counties over their alleged role in the opioid crisis there. The settlement will enable the companies to avoid a trial in Cleveland that was to start on Monday.

According to the Washington Post, the settlement is valued at $260 million. A broader settlement aimed at resolving thousands of outstanding lawsuits from states and local governments has not been reached.

A fifth defendant, Walgreens Boots Alliance, has not settled yet. It wasn’t clear if Monday’s trial would proceed with Walgreens as the only defendant.

The cases of Ohio’s Cuyahoga and Summit counties had been selected to go to trial first for more than 2,300 opioid lawsuits brought in federal court by local municipalities, hospitals, Native American tribes and others that are consolidated before U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland.

The lawsuits broadly allege the pharmaceutical industry pushed opioid painkillers for widespread use without adequately warning of the risks of addiction and allowed high volumes of pills to flood into communities.

The five companies were the last left for the trial after several other drugmakers settled with the two counties in recent weeks.


ECRM_06-01-22


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