New York Takes Drugmakers, Drug Retailers To Legal Trial Over Opioid

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd TEVA, Endo International Plc ENDP, and AbbVie Inc's ABBV Allergan misleadingly marketed opioid drugs as having a low addiction risk, a lawyer for a New York county told jurors, urging them to hold the companies liable.
Jayne Conroy, representing Suffolk County, also said that the drug distributors - AmerisourceBergen Corp ABC, Cardinal Health Inc CAH, and McKesson Corp MCK failed to report suspicious opioid orders as required.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said nearly 500,000 people died from opioid overdoses in the U.S. from 1999 to 2019.
"Manufacturers and distributors control the valve to stop the flood of opioids," she added. "They have their hands on this."
Johnson & Johnson JNJ announced it would pay $263 million to settle and avoid the opioid trial.
The New York counties had also sued pharmacy operators Walmart Inc WMT, Rite Aid Corporation RAD, CVS Health Corp CVS, and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA, but they were dropped from the trial.
CVS said it had settled without disclosing terms, while Walmart and Rite Aid declined to comment.
Walgreens could not immediately be reached for comment.