Opioid giant reportedly looks to settle

Report says Purdue Pharma, owners would pay up to $12b to settle more than 2,000 lawsuits

A major US opioid manufacturer is offering to pay $10 billion to $12 billion to settle more than 2,000 lawsuits by states, counties and cities across the nation, according to a media report.

NBC News reported on Tuesday that the potential settlement by OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, was part of confidential conversations discussed by Purdue's lawyers at a meeting in Cleveland on Aug 20.

At least 10 state attorneys general and the plaintiffs' attorneys attended the meeting, where David Sackler represented the Sackler family, NBC said.

Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family have denied allegations in lawsuits that Purdue's sales practices were deceptive and at least partly responsible for the opioid crisis.

But Purdue said it was actively working with the states and other plaintiffs to reach a resolution, without specifying a settlement amount.

"While Purdue Pharma is prepared to defend itself vigorously in the opioid litigation, the company has made clear that it sees little good coming from years of wasteful litigation and appeals," it said in a statement to NBC News. "Purdue believes a constructive global resolution is the best path forward, and the company is actively working with the state attorneys general and other plaintiffs to achieve this outcome."

News of the potential settlement follows a ruling on Monday by an Oklahoma judge ordering that the drug giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) pay $572 million for its role in the state's opioid crisis.

Two companies that sold far more opioids — Teva Pharmaceuticals USA and Purdue — had reached settlements to pay Oklahoma $85 million and $270 million, respectively, but J&J chose to go to trial.

Oklahoma prosecutors described J&J as a "kingpin" in an epidemic that has killed more than 400,000 Americans since 2000.

The company contended at trial that it should not shoulder the blame for the opioid epidemic because its opioids had modest sales and because the drugs were regulated by state and federal agencies.

J&J subsidiaries sell Duragesic, a pain patch containing the powerful opioid fentanyl, and Nucynta pills. Both carry the US Food and Drug Administration's strongest warnings about risks of addiction, abuse and life-threatening respiratory depression. J&J said it marketed the drugs accordingly and didn't mislead doctors about risks.

J&J's vow to appeal the ruling and analysts pointing out that the Oklahoma verdict was far below a liability that could have been as high as $17 billion likely helped J&J stock rise almost 2 percent on Tuesday. J&J made profits of $22.3 billion last year.

Still, J&J has been named in more than 2,000 lawsuits brought by state and local governments related to the marketing of opioids.

"The case does not establish a legal precedent for other cases," said Erik Gordon, an analyst and professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.

"It is a lower court verdict in one state that doesn't bind other courts. Even in Oklahoma, the verdict may or may not be upheld when J&J appeals to a higher court," he told China Daily.

J&J appears to have multiple grounds for appeal, he said, arguing it had only a 1 percent share of opioid sales in Oklahoma and the country as a whole, and that the state didn't prove it caused a public nuisance, "which traditionally has been applied to resolve property disputes".

In the US, more than 130 people die every day after an opioid overdose, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.