Florida reaches $878 mln opioid settlements with CVS, Teva, others

Endo International

30/03/2022 14:16

March 30 (Reuters) - Florida has reached more than $878
million of settlements with CVS Health Corp  CVS.N  and three
drug companies to resolve claims over their roles in fueling an
opioid epidemic in the third most populous U.S. state.
    CVS will pay $484 million, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
Ltd  TEVA.TA  will pay $194.8 million, Abbvie Inc's  ABBV.N 
Allergan unit will pay $134.2 million, and Endo International
Plc  ENDP.O  will pay $65 million, Florida's attorney general
Ashley Moody said in a statement.
    Most of the money will be spent on opioid abatement. Teva
will also provide $84 million of its generic Narcan nasal spray,
which can temporarily reverse the effects of opioid overdoses.
    All of the companies denied wrongdoing in agreeing to
settle.
    The accords were announced nine days after Rhode Island
reached similar settlements with Teva and Allergan that it
valued at $107 million.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2VO206
    CVS said settling was in the best interest of all parties,
and that it would vigorously defend against other lawsuits
relating to opioids. Teva said it "continues to actively
negotiate a national settlement" of similar claims.
    Abbvie and Endo were not immediately available for comment.

 (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Dietrich Knauth in New York,
and Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and
Chizu Nomiyama)
 ((ankur.banerjee@thomsonreuters.com;; Mobile - +919008417318;
Twitter: @AnkurBanerjee17))