Massachusetts lands $450M in latest settlement with opioid maker

Part of a $450 million payment from opioid manufacturer Endo, which filed for bankruptcy Tuesday night, is being wired to the Bay State under a deal Attorney General Maura Healey and several other state AGs struck with the company.

Healey said she and her peers in other states reached an agreement in principle with Endo International plc to resolve allegations that the company used deceptive marketing techniques and downplayed the risks of addiction to boost its sales.

The deal would require the manufacturer of Percocet, Endocet and other generic and branded opioids to pay $450 million over a 10-year period to participating states and subdivisions, submit opioid-related documents for online publication and pay $2.75 million to cover archival expenses, according to Healey’s office. It would also prohibit the marketing of Endo’s opioids forever.

“Endo’s deceptive marketing fueled the opioid crisis and caused a massive human toll,” Healey said in a statement. “The money recovered from this settlement will help to fund treatment, harm reduction and prevention throughout the country, and the ban on promotion and document disclosure requirements will ensure this never happens again.”

It’s not yet clear exactly how much of the total pot Massachusetts will receive.

Attorneys general alleged that Endo falsely promoted Opana ER, which was withdrawn from the market in 2017, by touting its abuse-deterrent formula. Healey’s office said that formula “did nothing to deter oral abuse and led to deadly outbreaks of Hepatitis and HIV due to its widespread abuse via injection.”

Endo filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, and Healey’s office said the resolution is contingent on final documentation and approval from the Bankruptcy Court.

AGs from Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia are leading the negotiations, and nearly 30 other states and jurisdictions will also join the settlement, Healey’s office said.

It also comes as a federal judge in Cleveland awarded $650 million in damages Wednesday to two Ohio counties that won a landmark lawsuit against national pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, claiming the way they distributed opioids to customers caused severe harm to communities and created a public nuisance.

U.S. District Judge Dan Polster said in the ruling that the money will be used to abate a continuing opioid crisis in Lake and Trumbull counties, outside Cleveland. Attorneys for the counties put the total price tag at $3.3 billion for the damage done to the counties.

The Associated Press contributed.