Teva Pharmaceutical Industries believes the company would have to pay around $2.6 billion in cash and medicine to settle thousands of lawsuits alleging the world’s largest generic firm and other drug manufacturers fueled the U.S. opioid epidemic.
ReutersSan Francisco squared off on April 25 against Walgreens Boots Alliance and three other companies accused of fueling an opioid crisis in the city, the first trial to target manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies over the addictive pain medicines.
ReutersJohnson & Johnson agreed to pay $99 million to settle claims by West Virginia that it helped fuel an opioid addiction crisis in the state, removing the company from an ongoing trial that began earlier in April.
Reuters HealthWest Virginia’s attorney general on April 4 urged a judge to hold Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., and AbbVie Inc.’s Allergen liable for causing a “tsunami” of opioid addiction in the state.
At least six U.S. states, including Georgia, did not fully sign on to a proposed $26 billion settlement with three drug distributors and Johnson & Johnson – which have been accused of fueling the nation’s opioid epidemic – according to the states’ attorneys general.
The three largest U.S. drug distributors, facing their first trial over claims that they fueled the opioid crisis, said responsibility for ballooning painkiller sales lies with doctors, drugmakers and regulators.
The United States lost more than 22,000 lives to Covid-19 for the week ended Jan. 10, setting a record for the second week in a row, as new cases also hit a weekly high.
California compelled much of the state to close shop and stay at home on Dec. 7, when some of the harshest coronavirus restrictions in the United States came into effect one day after the state set a record with more than 30,000 new Covid-19 cases.
The United States reported a record increase in coronavirus cases for a fourth consecutive day with at least 131,420 new infections, bringing the country’s total caseload to about 9.91 million, according to a Reuters tally.
Seven U.S. states reported record one-day increases in Covid-19 cases so far in September even as the average daily number of new infections is falling nationally.
