Opioid crisis: West Virginia in tentative $161.5m settlement with drug makers

Pharma companies were accused of downplaying risks of addiction associated with opioid use while overstating the benefits

Attorneys for the state of West Virginia and two remaining pharmaceutical manufacturers have reached a tentative $161.5m settlement just as closing arguments were set to begin in a seven-week trial over the opioid epidemic, the state attorney general, Patrick Morrisey, said on Wednesday.

Morrisey announced the development in court in the state's lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceuticals, AbbVie's Allergan and their family of companies.