Benzinga | Jun 29, 2021 03:25PM EDT

New York Takes Drugmakers, Drug Retailers To Legal Trial Over Opioid

* Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (NYSE:TEVA), Endo International Plc (NASDAQ:ENDP), and AbbVie Inc's (NYSE:ABBV) Allergan misleadingly marketed opioid drugs as having a low addiction risk, a lawyer for a New York county told jurors, urging them to hold the companies liable.

* Jayne Conroy, representing Suffolk County, also said that the drug distributors - AmerisourceBergen Corp (NYSE:ABC), Cardinal Health Inc (NYSE:CAH), and McKesson Corp (NYSE:MCK) failed to report suspicious opioid orders as required.

* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said nearly 500,000 people died from opioid overdoses in the U.S. from 1999 to 2019.

* "Manufacturers and distributors control the valve to stop the flood of opioids," she added. "They have their hands on this."

* Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) announced it would pay $263 million to settle and avoid the opioid trial.

* The New York counties had also sued pharmacy operators Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT), Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD), CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS), and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), but they were dropped from the trial.

* CVS said it had settled without disclosing terms, while Walmart and Rite Aid declined to comment.

* Walgreens could not immediately be reached for comment.