Teva Pharmaceuticals and AbbVie's Allergan followed the lead of retail pharmacy chains to allot billions of dollars to settle nationwide opioid lawsuits, according to North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein.
Together, the two drugmakers set aside $6.6 billion in settlement funds, which Mr. Stein said is "just the latest step in our dogged pursuit of justice." Thirteen states led the negotiations, and the deal is expected to gain states' approval by the end of 2022 and be open for local governments in 2023.
The decision follows individual commitments from CVS, Walgreens and Walmart to heap opioid lawsuits into a national settlement fund. CVS and Walgreens both proposed about $5 billion, and Walmart plans to settle for $3.1 billion.
"Given the high participation rate in other nationwide opioids settlements — and Teva's settlements with Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Rhode Island, West Virginia, San Francisco and New York — we remain optimistic that a high participation rate in this nationwide settlement will be achieved, enabling us to put these cases behind us and continue to focus on the patients we serve every day," the company said in a news release.