MORGANTOWN – Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced on Wednesday that his office has reached a $26 million settlement with one of the four opioid manufacturers named in the state’s lawsuit set for trial on Monday.
He explained the settlement – the papers were signed Wednesday morning – and gave a brief preview of the trial during a Wednesday press conference.
The suit was filed in 2019 and the settlement is with defendant Endo Health Solutions. “We think that this is a very positive step for the state of West Virginia,” he said.
Along with the monetary payment, Endo agreed to not make any false or deceptive statements about opioids or any opioid product, not encourage the use of opioids for pain treatment and not to promote opioids or opioid products through sales representatives to physicians, speakers’ bureaus, sponsoring of medical programs or third party advocacy programs.
Endo must also operate an effective monitoring program and use downstream customer data to identify suspicious orders.
Morrisey said distribution of the money awaits ratification of the memorandum of understanding between the state and the various cities and counties involved in the litigation.
From the total, $2.08 million will go to legal fees. From the remaining $23.92 million, the local governments will receive 24.5%, 3% will be placed in a state escrow account, and 72.5% will go to the West Virginia First Foundation – a private nonprofit charged with distributing the settlement funds to use for opioid abatement.
Morrisey said he expects the MOU to get ratified in the next couple of weeks and the money could arrive as early as July.
The trial will begin Monday in Kanawha County Circuit Court, Morrisey said, against the three remaining defendants: Janssen, Teva and Allergen.
“This is a very important trial for the future of the state of West Virginia,” he said.
He expects it could last six weeks to two months. He will deliver the opening statement on Monday and hold a press conference afterward, he said. “We think that we have very strong claims. … I don’t take those allegations lightly. … Our day of fate has finally arrived.”
The allegations say, in short, that the companies helped fuel the opioid epidemic by engaging in strategic campaigns to deceive prescribers and misrepresent the risks and benefits of opioid painkillers.
Morrisey said he expects as many as 73 witnesses to testify, plus a possible additional 48.
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