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 The tentative deals disclosed on Tuesday came ahead of the first
trial to result from 2,000 lawsuits pending in federal court in
Cleveland largely by local governments seeking to hold drug
companies responsible for the deadly epidemic.
Endo announced said it had reached an agreement-in-principle to pay
Cuyahoga and Summit counties $10 million to and provide them up to
$1 million worth of two of its of its drug products free of charge.
Allergan has tentatively agreed to pay $5 million to resolve claims
involving its branded opioids, though the deal does not resolve
claims involving generic painkillers, said Frank Gallucci, a lawyer
for Cuyahoga County.
Allergan did not respond to requests for comment.
The accords are the first to result from the counties' cases, which
were selected for the first bellwether, or test, trial in the
litigation to allow parties to gauge the value of the remaining
claims and inform potential settlement talks.
Other companies still set to face trial on Oct. 21 include
drugmakers Purdue Pharma LP, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and
Johnson & Johnson and drug distributors McKesson Corp, Cardinal
Health Inc and AmerisourceBergen Corp.
Endo's chief legal officer, Matthew Maletta, called the settlement a
"favorable outcome" and stressed its value should not be
extrapolated to any other opioid-related cases.
Endo, which in 2017 withdrew its painkiller Opana ER from the
market, said the settlement includes no admission of wrongdoing.
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Opioids were involved in 400,000 overdose deaths from 1999 to 2017,
according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 2,300 lawsuits by state and local governments are pending
nationally, accusing drug manufacturers of deceptively marketing
opioids in ways that downplayed their risks and drug distributors of
failing to detect and halt suspicious orders.
The companies deny wrongdoing, saying they complied with their legal
obligations and did not cause the epidemic.
Most of the lawsuits are before U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in
Cleveland, who has pushed for a settlement and will preside over the
bellwether trial.
Purdue and Teva this year settled claims by Oklahoma's attorney
general for $270 million and $85 million, respectively, ahead of a
trial before a state-court judge.
The state subsequently took J&J to trial. A ruling is expected next
week.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and
Marguerita Choy)
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