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Oct. 21, 2019 | 05:26 PM

Drug companies reach $260 mln settlement, averting first federal opioid trial

In this file illustration photo taken on September 18, 2019 tablets of opioid painkiller Oxycodon delivered on medical prescription are seen in Washington, DC. / AFP / Eric BARADAT

Reuters

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Summary

The settlement covers drug distributors AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and McKesson Corp and Israel-based drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, and ends lawsuits by two Ohio counties.

Talks with the same defendants collapsed Friday, which were aimed at reaching a broader $48 billion settlement covering thousands of lawsuits filed by counties, towns and states from across the country over the crisis.

Monday's trial was scheduled to pit Cuyahoga and Summit counties of Ohio against the companies over allegations that they helped fuel a nationwide opioid crisis.

The trial was a so-called bellwether or test trial that was meant to help shape a broader settlement of some 2,600 lawsuits over opioids that are pending nationwide.

Monday's settlements add to deals worth $66.4 million that the two counties earlier struck with drug companies Mallinckrodt Plc, Endo International Plc, Johnson & Johnson and Allergan Plc.