New York jury holds drug firm Teva liable in opioid crisis

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NEW YORK – A assemblage held Teva Pharmaceuticals liable for contributing to the opioid crisis, delivering 1 of fewer verdicts truthful acold among thousands of lawsuits nationwide implicit the painkillers, New York's lawyer wide said Thursday.

Attorney General Letitia James’ bureau said the Suffolk County assemblage recovered the cause institution played a relation successful furthering what is legally termed a nationalist nuisance but had lethal consequences — an opioid usage epidemic linked to much than 500,000 deaths successful the U.S. successful the past 2 decades.

“Teva Pharmaceuticals USA and others misled the American radical astir the existent dangers of opioids," James, a Democrat, said successful a quality release. “Today, we took a important measurement successful righting the wrongs this state has collectively experienced implicit the past 2 decades.”

Messages seeking remark were sent to a lawyer for Teva and to the judge's staff.

A abstracted proceedings volition travel to find what punishment Teva volition face, James said.

Around the country, authorities and section governments, Native American tribes, unions, schoolhouse districts and others person taken connected the cause manufacture successful lawsuits implicit the almighty painkillers.

New York's lawsuit, filed successful 2019, targeted respective opioid producers and distributors, companies that bargain medications successful bulk and merchantability them to pharmacies. Among the defendants were OxyContin shaper Purdue Pharma and members of the billionaire household that controls it.

The suit accused cause companies of breaching their ineligible duties “to profiteer from the plague they knew would beryllium unleashed.” The authorities said that cause manufacturers collaborated to mislead radical and downplay the superior risks of opioid addiction, and that cause distributors skirted systems meant to bounds orders for painkillers.

New York said the companies' behaviour outgo the authorities hundreds of millions of dollars successful addiction attraction bills and different expenses.

Teva was the sole manufacturing suspect near successful the suit aft different parties settled, most precocious Allergan Finance LLC successful December. The assorted settlements person netted New York up to $1.5 billion.

The proceedings started months ago. The assemblage began deliberating Dec. 14, taking immoderate days disconnected for Christmas.

Teva and the determination cause organisation institution Anda were besides defendants successful a Suffolk County lawsuit.

Elsewhere, lone a fewer opioid cases person gone to verdicts to date, with nary wide statement connected outcomes.

An Oklahoma justice ruled against drugmaker Johnson & Johnson successful 2019, but the state’s ultimate tribunal overturned that determination successful November.

A California justice successful November ruled successful favour of drugmakers, and a national assemblage successful Cleveland sided with 2 Ohio region governments that had claims against pharmacy chains.

A proceedings has been completed but a justice has not yet ruled successful a West Virginia case, and a proceedings is ongoing successful Washington state. Thousands of different cases are successful the process of heading to trial.

There person besides been settlements. Some of the biggest manufacture names — specified arsenic distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson and drugmakers Johnson & Johnson, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals — person reached nationwide settlements with a cumulative worth perchance good implicit $30 billion. Most of the wealth is being directed to combat the epidemic.

But astir of those deals person not been finalized, and determination has been 1 precise large reversal. In mid-December, a national justice rejected OxyContin shaper Purdue Pharma’s sweeping woody to settee thousands of lawsuits implicit the toll of opioids.

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This communicative has been corrected to amusement that a jury, not a judge, decided the lawsuit successful Cleveland. Associated Press writer Deepti Hajela contributed to this report.

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