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.
AstraZeneca’s rare disease arm Alexion agreed to resolve all patent disputes with Chugai Pharmaceutical regarding the prescription drug Ultomiris (ravulizumab) by signing a settlement agreement that will involve a one-time payment of $775 million.
One day after U.S. bankruptcy judge Robert Drain approved an opioid settlement plan that locks Purdue Pharma’s Sackler family into paying about $6 billion into the nationwide fund, family members of those whose lives were devastated by addiction to drugs like OxyContin confronted the de facto face of the nation’s opioid crisis in court.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Michael Kaplan ruled that Johnson & Johnson be allowed to continue with the company’s controversial spinoff strategy to settle with people who filed lawsuits claiming that J&J’s talc-based baby powder causes cancer.
A federal judge on February 16 dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit by consumers who accused Pfizer Inc. of failing to disclose the presence of cancer-causing agents in Chantix before recalling the anti-smoking drug.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. reported solid results for full-year 2021, posting $15.9 billion in revenue including a gain of $4.1 billion from the fourth quarter. The company recently settled an opioid-related case in Texas and is preparing to pay as much as $3.6 billion in cash and medicine to settle the lawsuits filed against Teva.
The three largest U.S. drug distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $590 million to resolve claims by Native American tribes that the companies fueled an opioid epidemic in their communities, according to court filings.
Rhode Island on Jan. 25 reversed course and threw the state’s support behind a $21 billion nationwide settlement it originally declined to back resolving lawsuits alleging that three large drug distributors fueled the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic.
