On the eve of a closely watched trial, Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA) agreed to pay $85 million to settle charges made by the state of Oklahoma of fueling the opioid crisis by overstating the benefits of its opioid painkillers and downplaying addictive risks that led doctors to prescribe the drugs unnecessarily.
The agreement, which must still be finalized, was announced on Sunday, just two days before a trial is scheduled to get underway. However, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said the trial will continue as planned against Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), which faces the same claims. Several weeks ago, Purdue Pharma agreed to pay $270 million to settle allegations by the state.
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