Suboxone maker Indivior has spent years dealing with allegations related to its role in the United States opioid epidemic, inking several settlements over that span and even witnessing its former CEO land a six-month prison term.
In the latest deal, the company agreed to a deal in principal to pay up to $86 million to participating states over five years.
The settlement agreement stems from a joint effort by the attorneys general of New York, Illinois, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia, plus an executive committee consisting of AGs of California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon and Vermont.
If the deal goes through, Indivior’s $86 million will help fund opioid addiction treatment, recovery and prevention programs across the states.
The states accused Indivior of failing to properly monitor and report inappropriate opioid orders, which went on to “fuel, rather than treat,” opioid addictions, California’s AG Rob Bonta said in a statement.
Further, the company allegedly prioritized promotion efforts toward “dangerous prescribers,” including doctors who ran “pill mills,” New York’s attorney general Letitia James said in her release.
“When companies like Indivior exploit those in the thralls of addiction for profit, their behavior must be stopped,” James said. “As a result of our work to hold Indivior accountable, they will end their destructive practices and provide new resources to invest in opioid addiction treatment, prevention, and education that will help save lives in New York.
The drugmaker has been embroiled in a storm of opioid-related litigation for years related to accusations surrounding its opioid addiction therapy Suboxone. In 2020, Indivior closed out the federal government’s probe with a guilty plea and a $600 million settlement to be paid over seven years.
That agreement followed the sentencing of former company CEO Shaun Thaxter, who pled guilty for his role in a scheme to maintain Medicaid formulary coverage for Suboxone by misleading officials about its dangers to children.
Besides those cases, Indivior's former parent company Reckitt Benckiser inked a whopping $1.4 billion deal with federal authorities in 2019.
Other than through monetary settlements, the Suboxone maker is now helping to combat opioid overdoses with Opvee, a nasal spray form of a decades-old treatment nalmefene hydrochloride. The spray was approved last year and can reverse the effects of overdoses if administered quickly.