Last week, AG Steve Marshall announced the final approval of $17.3 billion in opioid agreements with drug makers Teva and Allergan and pharmacies CVS and Walgreens. The defendants have committed to the deal and will start releasing funds to a national administrator later this summer. Alabama will receive $248,948,247.
“The opioid crisis is a blight on our society and has had costly effects on our communities,” stated Marshall. “My office will never stop holding those responsible companies accountable for the irreparable harm to our state.”
The settlements require Teva’s opioid business to provide stringent injunctive relief that, among other things, will prevent all opioid marketing and ensure systems are in place to prevent drug misuse.
Allergan is also required to stop selling opioids for the next 10 years.
CVS and Walgreens have agreed to injunctive relief that requires the pharmacies to monitor, report, and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions. This court-ordered injunctive relief will help ensure a crisis like this does not happen again.
In April 2022, Alabama received a $276 million settlement with two pharmaceutical manufacturers and one pharmaceutical distributor to resolve the State’s lawsuit for their role in exacerbating the opioid crisis in the state. That settlement included Endo Pharmaceuticals, Johnson and Johnson, and McKesson.
Teva and Allergan negotiations were led by Attorneys General from North Carolina, Iowa, California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. CVS and Walgreens negotiations were led by Attorneys General from North Carolina, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas.
