Oregon is expected to get more than $4 million in a $335 nationwide settlement with drugmaker Mylan Inc. over allegations of deceptive opioid marketing.
The money will fund addiction treatment and prevention services, Attorney General Dan Rayfield said Tuesday.
Mylan, now part of global pharmaceutical company Viatris, has sold the opioids, including generic fentanyl patches and oxycodone, since 2005, the Oregon Attorney General’s Office said.
The company was accused by states of marketing the drugs as “less prone to abuse” even though it knew the opposite was true, especially with the fentanyl patches, and promoted the drugs “directly to doctors, leading to dangerous overprescribing and diversion of its opioids into the illegal drug market,” the announcement said.
“This settlement is not just a financial victory, it’s a reckoning,” Rayfield said in a statement. “It’s a fierce reminder that those who profited from the devastation of the opioid crisis will be held accountable.”
The settlement in principle calls for the company to pay 15 states over nine years. In addition to Oregon, the other states are California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.
Viatris said in a statement that the agreement resolves opioid-related claims by states, local governments and tribes against it and some of its subsidiaries.
“While the Company’s presence in the U.S. opioids market is very small, the Company has agreed to this settlement to provide closure on these matters,” the statement said. “This settlement is in no way an admission of wrongdoing or liability.”
Viatris said it will continue to work to “identify solutions to address pressing public health challenges like those relating to opoids,” noting that it makes a generic injectable version of naloxone, the opioid reversal drug.
Drug overdoses have increased in Oregon since 2018, reaching a peak in 2023 when 1,833 people died from a drug overdose. Synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, and non-cocaine stimulants, such as methamphetamine, are the main drugs involved in fatal overdoses, according to the Oregon Health Authority. The state hasn’t released its statistics for 2024.
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