Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has agreed to pay $335 million to settle a national lawsuit over its role in the opioid crisis, the Utah Attorney General's Office announced Monday.
The company, which recently merged into the new company Viatris, will pay out the money to states that join the settlement over the next 9 years. These currently include Utah, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, and Vermont.
"Mylan was aware that its opioid products, including fentanyl patches, were especially prone to abuse, and did not inform consumers of that issue,” said Utah Attorney General Derek Brown in a written statement. “I am grateful for the relentless work of the attorneys in the Office of the Utah Attorney General in holding Mylan accountable, and remain committed to saving Utah lives from the opioid crisis.”
According to the original lawsuit, Mylan began manufacturing and selling opiod products back in 2005, which included items such as fentanyl patches, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and buprenorphine.
This newest settlement comes after Utah previously received money from settlements from other pharmaceutical companies, such as Janssen, McKinsey & Company, Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart to name a few.
The Utah Attorney General's Office says Utah has received $81 million and is promised "around half a billion dollars more" over the next 15 years. According to data from the Utah Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst, the state was awarded nearly $495 million back in February 2022, to be paid over 17 years.
Of the total sum, $248.7 million went to the state government, while the remaining $242.3 million went to county governments. The state's portion is typically allocated during the general legislative session. Recent data shows nearly $1.5 million being allocated to non-profits back in 2024.
