Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva agreed on Sunday to pay the US state of Oklahoma USD 85 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of fueling the state's opioid epidemic, Oklahoma's attorney general said.
The announcement comes after Purdue Pharma, maker of the opioid painkiller OxyContin -- a key driver of the crisis responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in the United States -- reached a USD 270 million settlement with the state in March.
Attorney General Mike Hunter said in a statement the Teva settlement shows Oklahoma's "resolve to hold the defendants in this case accountable for the ongoing opioid overdose and addiction epidemic that continues to claim thousands of lives each year."