Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) will be forced to pay over $250 million to settle more than 80 lawsuits filed against it relating to the anesthetic Propofol. The claims against Teva charge that Propofol was allegedly deliberately sold in vials large enough to be reused by doctors, resulting in patients in Las Vegas undergoing colonoscopy procedures developing hepatitis C.
Teva reportedly agreed last week to resolve the claims, according to sources close to the litigation.
In Teva's 2010 financial report, the company said that more than 200 claims had been filed against it related to the reuse of Propofol vials. Teva is one of the defendants and there are believed to be 100 cases covering 4,000 additional claims, in which patients fear for their helath although they have not developed hepatitis C symptoms.
In 2009, Teva recalled Propofol vials following the discovery of the infection. Defects in the production process were found in its California plant. Propofol was one of the drugs found in the home of singer Michael Jackson after his death, however, Teva insists that the serial number of that container was not part of the problematic batch.
Teva said in response, "Teva set aside $280 million to settle the Propofol claims as detailed in our annual report (20F), which has just been published. This amount settles the vast majority of the claims in this affair."
On news of the cost of the settlement, Teva's share price rose 1.32% in after hours trading on Nasdaq yesterday to $45.24, giving a market cap of $39.95 billion.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 22, 2012
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