Paxton reaches opioid settlement with Teva for $225 million

(The Center Square) – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has reached an opioid settlement with another pharmaceutical company, this time with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries for $225 million.

It’s the latest of four settlements since 2018 that Paxton’s office has reached over the alleged improper marketing of opioids manufactured by pharmaceutical companies, which he argues has facilitated the opioid crisis in Texas, and across the U.S.

Opioids are a family of drugs that include prescription painkillers like hydrocodone, oxycodone and morphine and illicit drugs like heroin.

“This agreement is not only another win for Texas, but a major step in the right direction to help people overcome opioid addiction,” Paxton said. “Pharmaceutical companies must be held accountable for their role in this devastating epidemic. These resources will be used to fund recovery initiatives that will help countless Texans.”

According to a recent report published by the Centers for Disease Control, 4,751 Texans died from drug overdoses from May 2020 to May 2021, compared to 3,551 who died from drug overdoses over the same time period during the previous year, a 25% increase.

As part of the settlement, Teva will also provide $75 million worth of Narcan, a lifesaving medication used to help reverse the effects of an opioid overdose in minutes. It’s effective in responding to an overdose caused by fentanyl, heroin, and most prescription opioid pain relievers. The settlement funds will help local law enforcement and medical personnel on the ground fighting opioid-related overdoses and crimes in communities statewide.

This is the fourth statewide opioid settlement Paxton’s office reached, totaling more than $618 million in funds received from Teva, Endo, Johnson & Johnson, and McKinsey.

Last August, Paxton reached the largest opioid settlement in U.S history after years of negotiating with three of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical distributors. Texas’ $26 billion Global Prescription Opioid Litigation Settlement Agreement was the first of its kind and will ultimately fund a range of programs to assist Texans struggling with opioid addiction.

Last October, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson and its U.S.-based Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies agreed to a $297 million settlement with Texas as part of the global agreement. Last December, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. agreed to pay $63 million in a statewide opioid settlement, regardless of when the global settlement agreement is finalized.

In February 2021, Texas reached a $38.4 million settlement with McKinsey. It had provided consulting services to opioid companies, including selling deceptive marketing plans, programs, and advisement to OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma for more than 15 years.

In 2018, Texas sued Purdue Pharma alleging a violation of state laws against deceptive trade practices and misrepresenting the risk of addiction to its painkillers, including OxyContin, to patients and doctors.

Not all drug overdoses can be attributed to alleged practices of the pharmaceutical industry, Paxton argues. He’s called on the Biden administration to close the border to stop the flow of illicit drugs pouring through as a result of the administration’s open border policies.

In 2021, fentanyl seizures at the border topped heroin seizures for the first time in U.S. history. Also last year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seized enough lethal doses of fentanyl to kill every American. These seizures exclude the amount of drugs seized by Texas state troopers, which include enough lethal doses of fentanyl to kill more than 200 million people. They also exclude the record amount of drugs seized by Customs and Border Protection agents.

Fentanyl-laced drugs often come in the form of tablets that look like prescription medications, including oxycodone, hydrocodone and Xanax, as well as heroin and ecstasy.

Paxton joined 15 other state attorneys general who called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to take action against China and Mexico for their role in creating a fentanyl crisis in the U.S. He’s also sued the administration 10 times over border and illegal immigration policies.

Most fentanyl available in the U.S. has been trafficked from Mexico across the southern border where “seizures increased from approximately 1,187 kilograms in 2019 to approximately 2,939 kilograms in 2020,” according to a March 2021 Department of State report.

While Blinken hasn’t yet replied to their request, the White House last year made recommendations to Congress on how to reduce the supply and availability of fentanyl. In Biden’s fiscal 2022 budget proposal, $41 billion was allocated to national drug program agencies.

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