HONOLULU – Hawai‘i Attorney General Holly T. Shikada has reached an agreement in principle with opioid maker Endo International plc and its lenders that would provide up to $450 million to participating states and local governments, ban promotion of Endo’s opioids, and require Endo to turn over millions of documents related to its role in the opioid crisis for publication in a public online archive.
The agreement in principle with Endo, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday night in the Southern District of New York, resolves allegations that Endo boosted opioid sales using deceptive marketing that downplayed the risk of addiction and overstated the benefits. Endo, an Ireland-based drugmaker with its U.S. headquarters in Malvern, Pennsylvania, makes generic and branded opioids including Percocet and Endocet, and also made Opana ER, which was withdrawn from the market in 2017. The states allege that Endo falsely promoted the benefits of Opana ER’s so-called abuse-deterrent formulation, which did nothing to deter oral abuse and led to deadly outbreaks of Hepatitis and HIV due to its widespread abuse via injection.
“With this latest settlement, Hawai‘i, together with a broad coalition of states, continues its fight to hold companies responsible for fueling the opioids epidemic,” said Attorney General Holly Shikada. “The agreement announced today marks another significant milestone in addressing the devastating impacts of the epidemic on communities in Hawai‘i and across the country. Although much more work remains to be done, we are committed to finishing the job.”
The Hawai‘i Department of the Attorney General was unable to confirm Wednesday what share of the funds the state would receive.
The resolution, which is contingent on final documentation and Bankruptcy Court approval, involves the following:
• Requires payment of $450 million in cash over 10 years to participating states and subdivisions.
• Requires Endo to turn over its opioid-related documents for publication online in a public document archive and pay $2.75 million for archival expenses.
• Bans the marketing of Endo’s opioids forever.
The negotiations are being led by Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia.
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The Garden Island
