Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor announced Friday that the State of Alaska will receive approximately $1.8 million as part of a sweeping $720 million nationwide settlement with eight opioid manufacturers. The companies were accused of producing and distributing opioid medications that contributed to the nationwide opioid epidemic.
This agreement marks the latest in a series of settlements with pharmaceutical companies over their roles in fueling the public health crisis that has devastated communities across the country. With this settlement, Alaska has now secured nearly $102 million in total funds from opioid-related litigation.
The eight companies involved in this latest round of settlements and the amounts they will contribute nationally are:
- Mylan (now part of Viatris): $284.4 million over nine years
- Hikma: $95.8 million over one to four years
- Amneal: $71.8 million over ten years
- Apotex: $63.7 million in a single year
- Indivior: $38 million over four years
- Sun: $31 million over one to four years
- Alvogen: $18.7 million in a single year
- Zydus: $14.9 million in a single year
The majority of the settlement funds will be allocated to abatement efforts, including prevention, treatment, and recovery services, n states and communities across the nation. Some of the companies will also provide either free pharmaceutical products or monetary equivalents in addition to the cash payments.
As part of the agreement, seven of the companies (excluding Indivior) will face strict restrictions on opioid-related business practices. These include bans on marketing or promoting opioids, prohibitions on producing pills with more than 40 milligrams of oxycodone, and mandatory monitoring systems to flag suspicious orders. Indivior, which manufactures medication to treat opioid use disorder, has agreed to cease manufacturing or selling opioid products for the next decade, though it may continue distributing treatments for addiction.
The settlement was negotiated by a coalition of Attorneys General from North Carolina, California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia. Broad participation by states helped trigger the next step in the legal process — a sign-on period during which local governments will be invited to join and formalize their participation in the agreement.
Attorney General Taylor praised the outcome as another step toward holding companies accountable and bringing resources to Alaska communities still grappling with the opioid crisis.