Hawaii will receive $ 700 million from pharmaceutical giants Bristol Myers Squibb and Sanofi in a historic colony on the thinner Plavix, said Governor Josh Green today – one of the greatest payments in state history.
The settlement ends more than a decade of disputes over the failure of companies to warn that Plavix was less effective or less effective in populations of American, Pacific and Aboriginal Asian origin. The drug, which is based on the activation of liver enzymes, was prescribed more than 837,000 times in Hawaii between 1998 and 2010.
“After almost a decade of disputes … The state reached a historic settlement,” Green said at a press conference this afternoon. “It is a historical result of which we are grateful.”
On May 21, 2024, a judge of the Hawaii circuit court granted the state $ 916 million in a ten-year affair, alleging unfair and misleading practices against the creators of Plavix drugs, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi.
Rather than pursuing calls, the parties agreed with the $ 700 million dollar settlement today to ensure faster payment. The agreement divides the total amount also between Bristol-Myers and Sanofi, with the money provided by bank transfer by June 9, officials said.
The general prosecutor of Hawaii, Anne Lopez, said today that the result sent a message to the companies operating in the islands. “The prosecutor’s office will be relentless in our quest for compliance with our consumer protection laws,” she said.
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The state trial, submitted in 2014 with the help of two private law firms, allegedly alleged that Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi had not revealed that their medicine was less effective in patients with certain hepatic-enzymatic mutations more widespread in people of Asian and Pacific descendants representing up to 30% of people who took the drug in Hawaii.
After the price of 2024, officials of drug manufacturers said in a statement that they were strongly disagreed with the court sentence and that they would appeal the decision. “The unprecedented sanctions granted in this case are unjustified and out of proportion,” said companies. “The body overwhelming with scientific evidence shows that Plavix is safe and effective therapy, regardless of the breed or genetics of a patient.”
The case looked closely at the national level, raised concerns concerning racial disparities in pharmaceutical efficiency and transparency.
Green attributed to the Office of the Attorney General and an external lawyer, including lawyer Rick Fried, for their role in the conclusion of the agreement.
“It’s been 13 years-we worked on these two trials to the Supreme Court and return. We come back again, and we were finally able to determine this resolution,” he said today.
Officials claim that funds will support public health and underfunced health services across the State. “This result will help the inhabitants of Hawaii,” said Green.
The two companies began to sell Plavix in 1998 as a better but more expensive aspirin alternative to reduce heart attacks, strokes, blood clots and vascular death.
In 2010, Bristol Myers Squibb and Sanofi were required by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States to add a “black box” warning on the diminished efficiency label for poor medication metabolizers with certain genes. The disclosure caused the state trial.
