$150 Million Multistate Settlement in Principle With Opioid Manufacturer to Help Combat Opioid Crisis
Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced today a $150 million multistate settlement in principle with opioid manufacturer Hikma Pharmaceuticals (Hikma) for its role in fueling the opioid crisis. Hikma produces a range of branded and generic opioid products and sells hundreds of millions of opioid doses every year. According to the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, from 2006 to 2021, Hikma failed to monitor and report suspicious opioid orders from potentially illegal distributors, even while its personnel knew their systems to monitor suspicious orders were inadequate and prone to failure. Attorney General Jennings says Hikma contributed to an ongoing crisis that has claimed thousands of Delawareans’ lives, and that now they’re being held accountable. She adds that the funds from this settlement will go towards efforts to support recovery and abatement efforts in Delaware and to reverse some of the damage that Big Pharma has done to the state’s communities. The settlement will provide $115 million in cash and $35 million in opioid addiction treatment medication to resolve claims brought by states and local communities against Hikma. States that do not accept the medication will receive cash in lieu of the product.
Additional Information from the Delaware Attorney General’s Office:
As part of the settlement in principle, Hikma will pay $150 million to participating states and localities, encompassing $115 million in cash and $35 million worth of opioid addiction treatment medication.
The settlement in principle was negotiated by the attorneys general of New York, California, Delaware, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia in coordination with an executive committee consisting of the attorneys general of Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon.
