MD AG Brown Announces $13 Million in Settlements with Seven Opioid Drug Manufacturers

Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced finalized national opioids settlements with seven opioid drug manufacturers that manufactured opioid pills and worsened the nationwide opioid crisis. Maryland is expected to receive over $13 million from the multi-state settlement, to be used for the state’s and its subdivisions’ efforts to continue fighting the opioid crisis. Each settlement imposes a set of injunctive terms on the manufacturer’s opioid business – including a prohibition from promoting or marketing opioid products to prescribers or patients and they are barred from manufacturing, promoting, or distributing any oxycodone pill exceeding 40 milligrams.

Additional information from AG Brown:

Maryland’s consent judgments with these manufacturers have been entered in the Circuit Court for Frederick County.

“Maryland communities are still living with addiction and loss caused by the opioid crisis,” said Attorney General Brown. “These settlements will fund treatment and recovery that helps Marylanders break the cycle of addiction and also require safeguards that keep the drug companies responsible for the crisis from fueling another.”

Over many years, these seven drug makers manufactured and sold generic opioids, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, and fentanyl patches, throughout the United States, including in Maryland. The state alleged that each of these manufacturers’ practices in manufacturing, selling, or marketing opioids resulted in significant diversion of opioids, contributing to the opioid crisis. 

The seven defendants and the estimated amount they will pay Maryland in opioid abatement funds are:   

• Alvogen:         $ 402,150 paid in a single year
• Amneal:          $ 2,450,965 paid over 10 years
• Apotex:           $ 1,370,968 paid in a single year
• Hikma:            $ 2,065,728 paid in a single year
• Mylan:             $ 5,982,176 paid over 10 years
• Sun:                $ 667,204 paid in a single year
• Zydus:             $ 317,892 paid in a single year

Beyond the payments, each settlement imposes a set of injunctive terms on the manufacturer’s opioid business. Among other requirements, the companies are prohibited from promoting or marketing opioid products to prescribers or patients; barred from manufacturing, promoting, or distributing any oxycodone pill exceeding 40 milligrams; and barred from tying sales staff pay or discipline to opioid sales volume. Each company must also maintain an ongoing system to monitor and report suspicious orders of its opioid products. 

Maryland’s complaint against the manufacturers can be read here.