Written by Nate Raymond
(Reuters) – Amnial Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq) said on Friday it had reached an agreement worth more than $270 million to settle allegations that it helped fuel the deadly opioid epidemic in the United States, becoming the latest drug company to settle lawsuits over the addiction crisis sparked by the United States. United. State and local governments.
Amnial has reached an agreement in principle to pay $92.5 million in cash and provide $180 million worth of naloxone nasal spray, an overdose drug, to resolve lawsuits brought by U.S. states, local governments and Native American tribes.
The settlement, payable over 10 years, if completed would resolve all of the more than 900 opioid-related lawsuits against Amneal, the company said. It did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of the nationwide settlement.
“We are committed to helping those affected by the opioid crisis by enhancing access to naloxone nasal spray, an emergency treatment for opioid overdoses that helps save lives,” Amnial said in a statement.
The settlement adds to more than $51 billion that drug manufacturers, distributors, pharmacy operators and consultants have agreed to pay to resolve lawsuits and investigations into their roles in the drug addiction and overdose crisis.
Nearly 645,000 people died in the United States from opioid overdoses, both prescription and illicit, from 1999 to 2021, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
State prosecutors accused Amneal, based in Bridgewater, New Jersey, of failing to monitor and report suspicious orders by its customers for generic opioid medications. The company sold nearly nine billion pills from 2006 to 2019, the states said.
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“Amnial became one of the largest generic drug companies in the world by profiting from the sale of dangerous opioids,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
She said the settlement would provide funding and resources to states to address the opioid epidemic and help those suffering from drug addiction.