Duane Morris Class Action Review - 2023 - Report - Page 288
Some of these lawsuits were brought by state and local governments against
manufacturers and distributors, as well as manufacturers. Many of these suits have
resulted in a settlement with the defendants. Purdue Pharma., the manufacturer of
OxyContin, has agreed to pay approximately $12 billion in settlements, with $4 billion
coming directly from the Sachler family, the owners of Purdue Pharma. However, New
York, California, Illinois, Washington, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut
opposed the settlement agreement and may seek to litigate against Purdue in
bankruptcy proceedings. Additionally, on November 2, 2022, retailers CVS, Walgreens,
and Walmart agreed to settle their claims for $13.8 billion with state, local, and other
governmental entities. In total, the opioid settlements to date amount to approximately
$50 billion.
Walgreen’s settlement agreements provide for the $5 billion payment over 15 years
after the effective date, and CVS reached a similar agreement that $4.9 billion will be
paid over 10 years.
Recently, Teva and Allergan reached settlements not to exceed $4.25 billion, and $2.37
billion, to be paid out over thirteen and six years, respectively.
The distributor defendants, McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen have
agreed to pay a maximum of $19.5 billion over 18 years.
Forty-four states also have their own specific agreements that specify the
apportionments between the state and local counties that have opted-in to the
settlement, and these specific agreements vary considerably. The general theme of
these agreements however is that apportionment between the municipalities is
determined by population.
For example, in April of 2022, New York began making payment to its counties under
the settlement agreement with the distributor defendants, the largest payout of which
was to New York City, totaling over $11,000,000. New York also allocated payment
distributions for the same counties with Janssen, which included much larger
apportionments due to the larger settlement, the largest of which is going to be made to
New York City totaling over $34,000,000.
The states are generally free to apportion settlement funds in a manner that will best
help their citizens. For example, Texas has enacted a program aimed at high school
student-athletes by implementing a program to distribute medication disposal and
educational materials. The program also provides a coalition to assist its administration,
which consists of former NFL and Texas football players.
Some of the settlement funds will be used to remediate opioid activities at a state level,
while the majority of the settlement funds will go directly to a local subdivision level in an
effort to combat the crisis.
One noteworthy proceeding is found in the remanded proceeding of City Of Huntington,
et al. v. AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp., 2022 US. Dist. LEXIS 117322 (S.D. W. Va.
July 4, 2022). This case was brought by the City of Huntington, West Virginia, and
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© Duane Morris LLP 2023
Duane Morris Class Action Review – 2023
