Florida gets $860 million from CVS, others to settle opioid cases

Florida gets $860 million from CVS, others to settle opioid cases

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As part of the settlement, CVS Pharmacy and Pharma will pay Florida a total of $860 million. opioid epidemic State officials said Wednesday.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said CVS Health Corp. and CVS Pharmacy Inc. will pay the state $484 million. Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. agreed to pay $195 million and Allergan PLC more than $134 million.

In addition, Tevan will provide approximately $84 million in Narcan nasal spray to Florida to treat victims of drug overdose. Another company, Endo Health Solutions, also settled for $65 million, Moody’s said.

“The opioid epidemic is wreaking havoc on families in Florida,” Moody’s said in a news release. “The funding from CVS, Teva, Allergan and Endo will help us further our efforts to remedy the hurt and suffering of Floridians.”

Moody’s added that funding from CVS will be distributed to cities and counties in the state and Florida that were plagued by opioid overdoses and illicit drug use during the “pill factory” epidemic a decade ago. This money must be used to address the opioid crisis.

The opioid epidemic, which has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the United States over the past two decades, includes prescription pain relievers such as OxyContin and generic oxycodone and illicit drugs such as heroin and illicitly produced fentanyl.

In the 2010s, state and local governments filed thousands of lawsuits against companies that manufacture and distribute drugs to hold them accountable. A handful of cases have gone to trial, but many more are being resolved, especially in the last year.

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The Florida settlement, which names only Walgreens Co. as a defendant, will go to trial in Pasco County Circuit Court on April 5. Florida has previously secured multimillion-dollar opioid settlements involving McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., Johnson & Johnson Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp.

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma In a preliminary deal nationwide that includes $6 billion in cash from members of the Sackler family that owns the company; drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson have completed settlements totaling $26 billion.

Other drugmakers, including Teva and Endo, have been tackling the problem state by state, as they did in Florida.

Since 2007, settlements, civil and criminal penalties have totaled more than $45 billion, according to the Associated Press.

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