Attorney General Kathy Jennings along with other state attorneys general reach a settlement with opioid maker Endo International for its role in the opioid crisis.
Endo could pay out as much as $450 million to the states suing. The settlement would also ban promotion of Endo’s opioids and require Endo to turn over documents related to its role in the opioid crisis for publication in a public online archive.
Endo made a drug called Opana ER, which was removed from the market in 2017. Endo claimed the drug's formula was “abuse-deterrent,” but ultimately led to deadly outbreaks of Hepatitis and HIV due to its widespread abuse via injection.
Endo also used deceptive marketing that downplayed the risk of addiction and overstated the benefits of other opioids.
Jennings said in a statement that no amount of money will ever fully restore the harm done to the thousands of Delawareans’ whose lives were lost or irreparably damaged.
Delaware’s total recovery from the settlement is still being finalized but builds on prior opioid agreements, including $50 million Purdue Pharma, $110 million from Johnson & Johnson and the nation’s principal opioid distributors and almost $2.6 million from McKinsey & Company.
Endo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday, and the resolution is contingent on final documentation and Bankruptcy Court approval.
