Drugmaker Amneal agrees to $270 million U.S. opioid settlement
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[May 04, 2024]
By Nate Raymond
(Reuters) - Amneal Pharmaceuticals said on Friday it had reached a deal
valued at more than $270 million to resolve claims it helped fuel the
deadly U.S. opioid epidemic, becoming the latest drug company to settle
lawsuits over the addiction crisis brought by states and local
governments.
Amneal reached an agreement in principle to pay $92.5 million in cash
and provide $180 million worth of naloxone nasal spray, an overdose
treatment medication, to resolve lawsuits by U.S. states, local
governments and Native American tribes.
The settlement, which is payable over 10 years, would if finalized
resolve nearly all of the more than 900 opioid-related lawsuits against
Amneal, the company said. It did not admit wrongdoing as part of the
nationwide settlement.
"We remain committed to helping those impacted by the opioid crisis by
enhancing access to naloxone nasal spray, which is an emergency
treatment for opioid overdose and helps save lives," Amneal said in a
statement.
The settlement added to the more than $51 billion that drug
manufacturers, distributors, pharmacy operators and consultants have
agreed to pay to resolve lawsuits and investigations over their roles in
the drug addiction and overdose crisis.
Nearly 645,000 people died in the United States from overdoses involving
opioids, both prescription and illicit, from 1999 to 2021, according to
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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![](../images/050424PIX/health92.jpg)
Tablets of the opioid-based Hydrocodone at a pharmacy in Portsmouth,
Ohio, June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/May/04/images/ads/current/guzzardos_lda_MOTHERSDAY_041524.png) State attorneys general accused
Bridgewater, New Jersey-based Amneal of failing to monitor and
report suspicious orders by its customers of generic opioid
medications. The company sold nearly nine billion pills from 2006 to
2019, the states said.
"Amneal became one of the largest generic pharmaceutical companies
in the world by profiting off the sale of dangerous opioids,” said
New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
She said the settlement would provide funding and resources for
states to address the opioid epidemic and help those suffering from
drug addiction.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi
and Bill Berkrot)
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