WEST VIRGINIA ANNOUNCES OPIOID SETTLEMENT WITH DRUG COMPANIES

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) on Wednesday announced a $161.5 million settlement with two drug companies over their role in the opioid epidemic, providing funds for a state hard-hit by the crisis.

 

Morrisey’s office described the settlement with the companies Teva and Allergan as “record-breaking,” saying it was the highest per capita settlement in the country.

 

The announcement comes as a trial over a lawsuit alleging the companies helped fuel the opioid epidemic was ending.

 

Morrisey’s office said the companies “helped fuel the opioid epidemic in West Virginia by engaging in strategic campaigns to deceive prescribers and misrepresent the risks and benefits of opioid painkillers.”

 

“It’s been a long trial and, as we have said from the very beginning, we are looking for accountability,”  Morrisey said in a statement. “This settlement, along with other settlements we will receive from other cases, will provide significant help to those affected the most by the opioid crisis in West Virginia.”

 

The settlement money will be distributed to localities in the state to help fight the opioid epidemic. The terms include $27 million worth of Narcan, an opioid overdose treatment, from Teva.