{"id":32289,"date":"2020-01-15T20:24:02","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T02:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=32289"},"modified":"2020-01-15T20:24:02","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T02:24:02","slug":"heres-what-happened-to-829-million-oklahoma-was-awarded-to-treat-opioid-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2020\/01\/15\/heres-what-happened-to-829-million-oklahoma-was-awarded-to-treat-opioid-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Here&#8217;s what happened to $829 million Oklahoma was awarded to treat opioid addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_31611\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-31611\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/06\/Chris-landsberger-4-672x447.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"447\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/06\/Chris-landsberger-4-672x447.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/06\/Chris-landsberger-4-1920x1277.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/06\/Chris-landsberger-4-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/06\/Chris-landsberger-4-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/06\/Chris-landsberger-4-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/06\/Chris-landsberger-4-620x412.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/06\/Chris-landsberger-4-1624x1080.jpg 1624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Chris Landsberger \/ Oklahoman<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">State&#8217;s attorney Brad Beckworth presents information in the opening statements during the Oklahoma v. Purdue Pharma opioid trial at the Cleveland County Courthouse in Norman, Okla. on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. The proceeding is the first public trial to emerge from roughly 2,000 U.S. lawsuits aimed at holding drug companies accountable for the nation\u2019s opioid crisis.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The legal fight over who is responsible, and who should pay for the national opioid crisis that has killed thousands of Americans will likely take years.<\/span><!--more--><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2017 alone, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/drugoverdose\/index.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more than 48,000 Americans fatally overdosed on opioids<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention \u2014 accounting for more than two-thirds of all drug overdose deaths nationwide that year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.simplecast.com\/16ed8ba2-5905-452b-a92f-977e79d32ab1?dark=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nStates, tribes, and municipalities across the nation, have joined a 2,500 case multidistrict litigation. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oklahoma\u2019s leaders took a different tactic. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rather than join the larger federal litigation state Attorney General Mike Hunter chose to take opioid manufacturers and more recently distributors to state court.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a result, the state is <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">entitled to $829 million from settlements with drug companies or court orders. But so far, none of the money has been spent on opioid addiction treatment. Here\u2019s where the money stands for each company or group.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Johnson & Johnson\u00a0<\/b><\/h4><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the conclusion of a seven week-long trial in Norman, Oklahoma District Judge Thad Balkman<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2019\/08\/28\/oklahoma-wins-572-million-from-opioid-manufacturer-johnson-johnson\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">found Johnson & Johnson liable for helping fuel the state\u2019s opioid crisis<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and ordered the company to pay $572 million to help meet health and addiction costs incurred by the state. The amount was based on what state lawyers claimed one year of abating the opioid crisis in Oklahoma would cost.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But in a motion filed with the court, lawyers for Johnson & Johnson pointed out that the judge inadvertently added three zeros in one portion of the calculation. They said one category, which would fund neonatal abstinence syndrome treatment evaluation standards, should be $107,600 not the $107.6 million in the judge\u2019s August decision. At a hearing in October, the judge agreed.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Balkman decreased the amount the company owed the state to a one-time payment of $465 million.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His decision could mean the judgment amount will be cut, but the total amount that Johnson & Johnson will ultimately have to pay Oklahoma is unclear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s because both sides have appealed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Attorneys for the state argue that the judge should maintain jurisdiction over the case and annually review whether the<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2019\/07\/16\/741960008\/pain-meds-as-public-nuisance-oklahoma-tests-a-legal-strategy-for-opioid-addictio\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">public nuisance<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has been resolved. That proposed process could result in additional payments to Oklahoma from Johnson & Johnson that could be in the billions of dollars.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Johnson & Johnson\u2019s defense team focused on the question of whether the specific opioids manufactured by the company could have caused Oklahoma\u2019s high rates of addiction and deaths from overdose.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Johnson & Johnson\u2019s lawyer, Larry Ottaway, argued the company\u2019s opioid products had a smaller market share in the state compared to other pharmaceutical companies, and he stressed that the company made every effort when the drugs were tested to prevent abuse. He also pointed out that the sale of both the raw ingredients and prescription opioids themselves are heavily regulated.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis is not a free market,\u201d he said. \u201cThe supply is regulated by the government.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ottaway maintained the company was addressing the desperate medical need of people suffering from debilitating, chronic pain \u2014 using medicines regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Even the state of Oklahoma purchases these drugs, for use in health care services.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Oklahoma Supreme Court will hear the appeals beginning in spring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The court could overturn Balkman\u2019s order and find in favor of the company, or if they side with the state, the amount the company owes could change significantly, but the state won\u2019t be paid until litigation of the case has ceased.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/e\/2PACX-1vRDJq3ru62bEFJuY7hGLLtcC7-8d5pg9QzmfOi0t2DbtZNfStE1hFzyQ6kjtzJLqnwwlRrJLKNwL8rF\/pubchart?oid=2122926474&format=interactive\" width=\"763\" height=\"481\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe><\/h4>\n<h4><b>Purdue Pharma<\/b><\/h4><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter filed suit in 2017, alleging Purdue helped ignite the opioid crisis with aggressive marketing of the blockbuster drug OxyContin and deceptive claims that downplayed the dangers of addiction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The drug giant <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2019\/03\/27\/707093263\/oklahoma-attorney-general-on-purdue-pharma-settlement\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">settled with the state<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in March, about two months before the trial began. The drug giant agreed to pay the state $270 million and Hunter agreed unilaterally to a plan for how the money would be spent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The vast majority of the settlement about $200 million would pay for an addiction research and treatment center at Oklahoma State University in Tulsa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oklahoma lawmakers were furious.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cRose petals were not strewn in my path,\u201d Hunter acknowledged in a speech before the Bipartisan Policy Council in Washington DC in May. \u201cThere was a great consternation with me going around the appropriations process.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">State lawmakers quickly changed the law so that any future settlements would go to the state treasury, to be allocated by the legislature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The settlement also included $20 million for medicines to be used by patients in the center, $12.5 million for counties and municipalities in Oklahoma and $60 million for legal fees.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Purdue Pharma has paid the state $102.5 million, and the Sackler family has made it&#8217;s first of five $15 million payments, but that money isn\u2019t being spent. OSU officials say that a board is still being formed to head the organization, with no start date in place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meanwhile, the federal government is seeking its slice of the settlement. In a June letter, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) stated that because the state relied on decades of Medicaid claims data to help determine the amount of opioid-related damages, the agency is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2019\/07\/04\/feds-may-claw-back-millions-from-oklahomas-opioid-settlement\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">entitled to its share<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Initial documents sent from the state to CMS and obtained by StateImpact estimate that the federal government could be entitled to around $60 million of the Purdue settlement. The state and CMS are continuing discussions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hunter\u2019s office claims that the $12.5 million designated for cities and counties will be distributed at a later date after a board has been formed to allocate it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Teva Pharmaceuticals\u00a0<\/b><\/h4><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Israel-based pharmaceutical company became the second to settle, just days before they were headed to trial. Teva agreed to an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2019\/05\/26\/727179915\/teva-pharmaceuticals-agrees-to-85-million-settlement-with-oklahoma-in-opioid-cas\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$85 million settlement<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, leaving Johnson & Johnson as the sole defendant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lawyers hired by the state were entitled to $13 million under the terms of their agreement with Hunter\u2019s office.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because Teva settled after legislators hurriedly changed the law, the remaining $72 million Teva settlement is in the state treasury, waiting to be allocated by lawmakers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_29443\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-29443\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/03\/Narcan-500x333.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/03\/Narcan-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/03\/Narcan-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/03\/Narcan-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/03\/Narcan-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/03\/Narcan-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/03\/Narcan-1620x1080.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Jackie Fortier \/ StateImpact<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Narcan, also known as Naloxone is an opiate overdose antidote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4><b>Endo International<\/b><\/h4><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In January 2020, Endo International agreed to an $8.75 million settlement to keep them out of court in the state. Oklahoma had threatened litigation, claiming the drugmaker contributed to the opioid crisis by inappropriately marketing its addictive painkillers.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hunter\u2019s office says the Endo settlement will join the Teva settlement in the state treasury after lawyer\u2019s fees have been deducted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Opioid Distributors<\/b><\/h4><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In January 2020, Hunter announced Oklahoma&#8217;s lawsuit suing some of the nation\u2019s largest pharmaceutical drug distributors. The state contends that some of the industry\u2019s titans\u2014McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen\u2014helped fuel that state\u2019s opioid crisis by ignoring red flags.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hunter said at a press conference that the companies are liable for an unspecified amount of damages because they should have known big orders of pills were being diverted and abused.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThese companies made billions of dollars by supplying massive and unjustifiable quantities of opioids leading to oversupply diversion addiction and overdose deaths,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey have blood on their hands,\u201d Hunter added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The drug distributors have already paid hundreds of millions in settlements to counties and states so far.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oklahoma is seeking a jury trial, with no trial date set.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oklahoma is entitled to $829 million from settlements with drug companies or court orders. But so far, none of the money has been spent on opioid addiction treatment. Here\u2019s where the money stands for each company or group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":31708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[879,1148,1084,765],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32289"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32289"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32298,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32289\/revisions\/32298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}