MORGANTOWN – Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced a $161,531,000 settlement with drug manufacturers Teva and Allergan on Wednesday.
He spelled out the details in a press release and press conference.
“This is a great day for West Virginia,” he said, calling it “the largest state-negotiated settlement in our state’s history.”
The agreement includes $134,531,000 for the settlement, fees and costs. Narcan maker Teva also will provide $27 million worth of Narcan over the course of 10 years.
“This is a really important case for the citizens of our state,” he said, noting it helps ensure accountability in the pharmaceutical supply chain.
Morrisey filed the suit in in 2019 in Boone County Circuit Court, alleging the companies concealed misconduct, mischaracterized and failed to disclose the risk of addiction, overstated the benefits of chronic opioid therapy and promoted higher dosage amounts without disclosing inherently greater risks.
The case went to trial April 4 and the state presented 54 witnesses and about 630 documents into evidence, Morrisey said. Morrisey was pleased that the presented evidence is available for public review. “People need to understand the depths of this epidemic and how it affected victims,” he said.
He said he’s been frequently criticized for his approach to the series of opioid suits his office has undertaken. “It’s always been the correct strategy. We took a lot of risk to do the absolute right thing and it’s paid off big for West Virginia.”
The settlement also includes a 2.25% “most favored nation” clause. This means if the parties reach a bigger than expected national settlement, West Virginia will get at least as much as in this settlement, possibly more. “I think that sets a really good framework” for future cases.
Morrisey said that this is the highest per-capita settlement in the nation for these two companies. It’s
45% of the settlement with Florida while West Virginia has only 8% of Florida’s population.
This is the fourth recent opioid suit settlement, Morrisey said, bringing total terms to $296,531,000. The three prior settlements were McKinsey, $10 million; Endo, $26 million; Johnson & Johnson, $99 million.
A trial against drug wholesalers is slated to begin this summer, he said, and one against pharmacies in the fall.
Meanwhile, settlements with two other drug makers, Purdue and Mallinckrodt, are pending in bankruptcy. Morrisey ballparked the possible figures from those at $85 million to $100 million. “You add that on top of the 296 [million dollars], you’re stating to talk about some real, meaningful resources for West Virginia.”
The settlement funds will be distributed under the terms of the West Virginia First Memorandum of Understanding announced in mid-February. The MOU is an agreement with cities and counties on how future settlement dollars would be used to abate the opioid crisis throughout the state.
“It contains a comprehensive road map to abate the massive problems caused by the flood of opioids into West Virginia,” Morrisey said.
Ccounties and cities are in the process of approving the MOU. Morrisey said that no money can move until the MOU is finalized. Four counties still need to take action – Hampshire, Monroe, Raleigh and Summers – along with a few cities, and he urged them to act as soon as possible.
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