When Teva proposed its sweeping $4.25 billion opioid settlement to resolve thousands of claims across the country, all U.S. states except for Nevada and New Mexico jumped on board. Now, the company has worked out a separate $193 million deal with one of the holdouts.
Under the deal, the generics giant will make annual payments to Nevada on a sliding scale starting next July and lasting through July 2043. The payouts will start at $7 million and rise to $9 million through 2037, then increase to $27 million in 2042.
The cash will be divvied between Nevada and members of the One Nevada Agreement on Allocation of Opioid Recoveries, a group formed to distribute opioid-related funds to local governments.
The deal also includes injunctive relief to put a stop to opioid misuse in the state. For one example, Teva is required to halt the promotion of opioid products, according to a statement from Nevada's attorney general Aaron D. Ford.
Nevada previously reached opioid-related agreements with Walmart and American Drug Stores. With the deal, its total opioid-related settlement funds will top $849 million.
Meanwhile, Teva’s massive $4.25 billion settlement will cover the rest of the states, minus New Mexico, and $100 million of the deal will go to Native American tribes. Those funds will be paid over 13 years. More than $1 billion of the deal value will come in the form of contributions of generic Narcan, an overdose reversal medicine.
Elsewhere on the opioid front, the Sackler family of Purdue Pharma recently secured legal protections shielding itself from future opioid-related lawsuits. Purdue was responsible for aggressively marketing OxyContin, which is cited as a driving force behind the country’s opioid crisis. The company has since filed for bankruptcy.