Teva Pharmaceuticals Found Guilty for Contributing to Opioid Crisis

Israeli drugmaker Teva Pharmaceuticals has been found guilty for its contribution to the opioid crisis according to a ruling this week.

A New York jury ruled on Thursday, in one of a few verdicts, that the company had contributed to the crisis nationwide over the painkillers. Teva makes medications using the powerful opioid fentanyl.

A Suffolk County jury had found the drug company played a role in what is legally termed a public nuisance but had lethal consequences. The opioid use epidemic has been connected to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. in the past two decades.

Thousands of lawsuits exist nationwide over the opioid crisis.

A separate trial will follow to determine what Teva will have to pay in the case, in which New York state and two Long Island counties took on a swath of drug companies.

“Teva Pharmaceuticals USA and others misled the American people about the true dangers of opioids,” James, a Democrat, said in a news release. “Today, we took a significant step in righting the wrongs this country has collectively experienced over the last two decades.”

Teva said it “strongly disagrees” with the verdict and plans to appeal.

“The plaintiffs presented no evidence of medically unnecessary prescriptions, suspicious or diverted orders, no evidence of oversupply” by Teva and didn’t show that Teva’s marketing caused harm to New Yorkers, the company said in a statement. It is also arguing for a mistrial, based on various issues.

New York’s lawsuit, filed in 2019, has targeted several opioid producers and distributors, companies that buy medications in bulk and sell them to pharmacies.

The lawsuit focused on Actiq and Fentora, two brand-name fentanyl drugs approved for some cancer patients. Teva repeatedly promoted them more broadly for other types of pain, in a “deceptive and dangerous marketing strategy,” the lawsuit argued.

“They try to say they’re selling legal products. The only problem is: They’re selling them illegally,” lawyer Hunter Shkolnik, who represented Nassau County, said at a virtual news conference Thursday. “The jury saw that what they’re doing is wrong.”

Teva said it “continues to focus on increasing access to essential medicines to patients” and believes a national settlement of opioid issues is in patients’ best interest.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.