Palmetto State News

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that 42 states, led by Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, have negotiated a nationwide $102.5 million settlement with the maker of Suboxone, Indivior Inc. South Carolina will receive about $1,671,000 from the settlement.

“This settlement is an important victory to protect competition for products that treat opioid addiction,” Attorney General Wilson said. “The opioid crisis is ongoing, and it is crucial for people struggling with addiction to have access to treatments sold in a competitive market.” 

In 2016 the states filed a complaint against Indivior Inc. alleging that they used illegal means to monopolize the market for opioid addiction treatment. The complaint alleged Indivior switched the Suboxone market from tablets to film while attempting to destroy the market for tablets. Trial had been set for September 2023.

The agreement, which will be submitted to the court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for approval, requires Indivior to pay the states $102.5 million. Indivior is also required to comply with negotiated injunctive terms that include disclosures to the states of all citizen petitions to the FDA, introduction of new products, or if there is a change in corporate control, which will help the states ensure that Indivior refrains from engaging in the same kind of conduct alleged in the complaint.

The forty-two States include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

You can read the settlement here.

Original source can be found here.