WASHINGTON – An opioid manufacturer will pay over $1.5 billion after pleading guilty in a case brought by the US Justice Department.
According to the Justice Department, Endo Health Solutions Inc. (EHSI) will pay $1 billion in criminal fines and $450 million in criminal forfeiture penalties for claiming that opioid medication Opana ER was resistant to drug abuse without clinical data.
“In pleading guilty, EHSI admitted that from April 2012 through May 2013, certain EHSI sales representatives marketed Opana ER to prescribers by touting the drug’s purported abuse deterrence, tamper resistance and/or crush resistance,” the Justice Department said.
US Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton drew a connection between the case and the opioid epidemic.
“The opioid epidemic has caused substantial harm to the American people, and the companies whose unlawful tactics contributed to it must be held accountable,” Boynton said.
Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids have sparked a national addiction crisis of increasing lethality since 2013. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 71,000 synthetic opioid overdose deaths in 2021. Opioid prescription abuse caused 45 deaths a day across the US within the same time frame.
The issue has also impacted Spokane, to address opioid addiction.
On a state policy level, a handful of major opioid epidemic policies were signed by the governor during the 2024 legislative session.
A policy distributing $7.75 million from a separate lawsuit against McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health Incorporated, and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation to address the opioid epidemic amongst tribal communities will go into effect on July 1.
In addition to distributing lawsuit funding, the state will require all Washington schools to have opioid overdose reversal medication on-hand beginning in June.
It is not clear how the Justice Department will distribute the funds from the Endo lawsuit.
