Israel-based pharmaceutical company Teva has agreed to pay the City of Baltimore, Maryland $80m to resolve claims over its role in fueling the city’s opioid crisis.
Under the terms of the settlement, Teva will make an initial payment of $35m by the end of this year, and the remaining amount by 1 July 2025.
It is the fourth settlement in Baltimore’s ongoing opioid litigation, following settlements with Allergan and CVS for $45m each, and Cardinal Health for $152.5m.
The current settlement with Teva brings the City’s total opioid litigation recoveries to $322.5m.
The ongoing legal battle against the remaining defendants, who account for half of the opioids market that flooded Baltimore, will be prosecuted in a trial scheduled for 16 September.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said: “This settlement marks another major victory for the City of Baltimore and further validates our decision to carry on in the fight to hold these companies accountable.
“Nothing can undo the harm that they caused or bring back the lives lost, but we are determined to implement these resources in a way that helps move our City’s fight against this epidemic forward.
“It is my hope that these funds will help save lives and ensure that fewer families and communities have to endure the pain of losing loved ones to opioid overdose.”
According to the Mayor’s statement, Baltimore City has opted out of a national settlement with Teva, which would have received only $11m over 13 years.
The current settlement provides the city with more than seven times the amount within a year.
Baltimore will now receive more than three times the total amount it would have received from all settlements with opioid defendants, said the publication.
Under the settlement agreements, the city will allocate $5m for education and outreach efforts about the 988 system, $3m to Penn North Recovery Center, and $2m to BMore Power.
The remaining funds will be spent as per the mayor’s executive order dated 29 August 2024, which outlined a comprehensive framework for the administration of opioid restitution funds.
Baltimore City Solicitor Ebony Thompson said: “The extraordinary amount of work put into this case by our outside counsel and our internal Law Department team has paid off for the City.
“We are very thankful that Susman Godfrey’s willingness to assume the financial risk in this case allowed us to turn down the grossly inadequate national settlements and pursue the resources our City needs to address this epidemic.”
