Jury holds drugmaker Teva liable in opioid crisis
NEW YORK » Drugmaker Teva Pharmaceuticals contributed to the opioid crisis, a suburban New York jury ruled Thursday in one of few verdicts so far among thousands of lawsuits nationwide over the painkillers.
A separate trial will follow to determine what Teva will have to pay in the case, in which New York state and two Long Island counties took on a swath of drug companies.
In Thursday’s verdict, a Suffolk County jury found the drug company played a role in what is legally termed a public nuisance but had lethal consequences — an opioid use epidemic linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. in the past two decades.
“Teva Pharmaceuticals USA and others misled the American people about the true dangers of opioids,” James, a Democrat, said in a news release. “Today, we took a significant step in righting the wrongs this country has collectively experienced over the last two decades.”
Israel-based Teva, which makes medications using the powerful opioid fentanyl, said it “strongly disagrees” with the verdict and plans to appeal.
The price of Teva’s U.s.-listed stock fell after the verdict was announced, ending down 6.3% at $7.90.
Around the country, state and local governments, Native American tribes, unions, school districts and others have sued the drug industry over the painkillers.
New York’s lawsuit, filed in 2019, targeted several opioid producers and distributors, companies that buy medications in bulk and sell them to pharmacies.
The suit accused drug companies of breaching their legal duties “to profiteer from the plague they knew would be unleashed.” The state and counties said that drug manufacturers collaborated to mislead people and downplay the serious risks of opioid addiction, and that drug distributors skirted systems meant to limit orders for painkillers.
Teva is known for making generic drugs, but the lawsuit focused on Actiq and Fentora, two brand-name fentanyl drugs approved for some cancer patients. Teva repeatedly promoted them more broadly for other types of pain, in a “deceptive and dangerous marketing strategy,” the lawsuit said.
“They try to say they’re selling legal products. The only problem is: They’re selling them illegally,” lawyer Hunter Shkolnik, who represented Nassau County, said at a virtual news conference Thursday. “The jury saw that what they’re doing is wrong.”
Teva said Thursday it “continues to focus on increasing access to essential medicines to patients” and believes a national settlement of opioid issues is in patients’ best interest.
New York said the conduct of the various opioid companies named in the suit cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in addiction treatment bills and other expenses. Lawyers for the counties suggested the Teva could be held liable for tens of billions of dollars, or more, in damages.