Teva USA’s parent company cannot escape being involved in the company’s role in the opioid epidemic, New York Attorney General says Point to what he believes is evidence that the company lied about its business relationships.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James said in a New York Supreme Court filing on Friday: “New York State has found evidence that Teva Parent was able to use shell companies and blatant misrepresentation to justify the judgment of itself and its subsidiaries. .” .
In December, jury verdict Teva 90% of the statewide opioid epidemic. The company’s New York liabilities are still to be determined and could be in the tens of billions of dollars. Without the support of the parent company, there are concerns that Teva America will not be able to pay, James said.
“Teva Parent and the Teva Defendants remain silent on the evidence that Teva Parent was ultimately involved in the U.S. opioid business by convening an advisory committee, regarding whether to ship suspicious orders, guiding the development and launch of the drug opioid in the U.S. market, and actively developing policies and regulations governing its lucrative business,” James alleges in the filing.
Attorney General says Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals should participate in fraud hearings to determine if it falsely claims it does not do business in U.S.
In 2019, Teva’s parent company asked a New York court to dismiss it from an opioid case on jurisdictional grounds, and provided other cases that were dismissed on the same grounds when its subsidiary faced charges. James said Teva’s parent company’s dismissed case proved to be “picky” and not an accurate description of the parent company’s relationship with its subsidiaries. In seeking to dismiss the New York case in 2019, Teva’s parent company withheld the fact that it was involved in opioid lawsuits in several states, including Florida, California and West Virginia.
James said Teva “failed” on whether New York court jurisdiction was based on corporate convenience.
James added that the company, which has factories in Ohio and Puerto Rico and employs U.S. residents at those factories, establishes a direct business relationship with the U.S. as further evidence that it should be part of the case.
“Teva Parent’s day-to-day involvement in the defendants’ opioid business also includes overseeing the launch of certain opioid product lines in the United States,” James said.
Teva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Photo: Stuart Ritchie, Getty Images
