Purdue Pharma, Oklahoma crackdown on opioid crisis via out-of-court settlement

By PharmaCompass

2019-03-28

Impressions: 107 Article

In the US, the State of Oklahoma and OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma began their crackdown on the opioid crisis this week when the two agreed to a US$ 270 million out-of-court settlement.

Purdue and dozens of other drug companies face more than 1,600 other lawsuits filed by cities, counties, states and native American tribes that allege culpability in the nation’s opioid epidemic. Thirty-five other states have sued drug companies in their own court systems. As of now, there is little understanding on how this settlement will affect other cases and whether it will send legal dominoes falling all across the US or not.

Under the terms of the Oklahoma settlement, Purdue will immediately contribute US$ 102.5 million to establish a new foundation for addiction treatment and research at the Oklahoma State University. Members of the Sackler family, who own Purdue Pharma but were not defendants in the case, will pay an additional US$ 75 million in personal funds over five years. Purdue will also provide US$ 20 million worth of treatment drugs, pay US$ 12 million to cities and towns and cover about US$ 60 million in litigation costs.

Oklahoma will continue to press its case against the two other defendants — Johnson & Johnson, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries.

Nearly 400,000 people in the United States died of opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including a record 47,600 in 2017. Purdue is more closely associated with the opioid crisis, as it introduced the powerful opioid OxyContin to the market in 1996.

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