An attorney who helped reach a $35 million settlement with an opioid manufacturer over the company’s role in the epidemic in Tennessee said Thursday that his team accepted the drug maker’s “last, best and final” offer, arguing the agreement avoids the possible complications of a jury verdict.
Gerard Stranch, who represents the plaintiffs in the Tennessee case against Endo, told reporters that $35 million was the “total largest sum Endo was willing or able to pay.” Endo announced the settlement last week, just days before a trial would have begun over how much to award the local governments and the child born dependent to opioids who sued.
Stranch said that even with a jury verdict, the money could have been tied up amid an appeal, and the company could have declared bankruptcy.
