 New
York takes Teva, McKesson, others to trial over opioids
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[June 29, 2021]
By Brendan Pierson
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York will take
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and other companies, including the
nation's largest drug distributors, to trial on Tuesday, seeking to hold
them liable for fueling an opioid crisis that has caused nearly half a
million U.S. deaths over a decade.
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 The trial in Central Islip, New York, will mark the first time
claims over the national opioid abuse and overdose epidemic go
before a jury.
It will pit state Attorney General Letitia James and Suffolk and
Nassau Counties against drugmakers Teva, Endo International and
Abbvie Inc, as well as drug distributors AmerisourceBergen Corp,
Cardinal Health Inc and McKesson Corp.
Another defendant in the case, drugmaker Johnson & Johnson,
announced on Saturday it would pay $263 million to settle and avoid
the trial.
New York and the counties claim that drug companies deceptively
promoted opioids as safe, and that distributors ignored red flags
that they were being diverted to illegal channels.
More than 3,000 lawsuits have been filed in the United States
against drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies over the opioid
epidemic, mostly by city, county and tribal governments.
Non-jury trials are already underway in cases brought against the
four drugmakers by several counties in California, and against the
three distributors by a city and county in West Virginia.
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 The New York counties had also
sued pharmacy operators Walmart Inc, Rite Aid
Corp and CVS Health Corp, but they were dropped
from the trial during jury selection earlier
this month. CVS said it had settled, without
disclosing terms, while Walmart and Rite Aid
declined to comment.
J&J and the three distributors last year
proposed paying a combined $26 billion to settle
all opioid claims against them nationwide, but
the deal has not been finalized.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention has said nearly 500,000 people died
from opioid overdoses from 1999 to 2019.
(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York;
Editing by Noeleen Walder and Bill Berkrot)
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