Bloomberg News (2/21, Feeley ) reported that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. "will pay more than $250 million to settle more than 80 lawsuits alleging the drugmaker sold the anesthetic Propofol in a way that led colonoscopy patients to develop hepatitis C, people familiar with the accords said." The world's largest maker of generic drugs reportedly "agreed last week to resolve claims by Las Vegas residents that the company intentionally sold Propofol in vials large enough to be reused by doctors." The settlement also "resolves a May 2010 case over Teva's sales of the anesthetic that spawned a jury award of more than $500 million."

The AP (2/21) added that a Clark County district judge approved the settlements coming out of what the state supreme court had termed a "global settlement conference" out of cases involving reuse of the large Propofol vials by three now-bankrupt Nevada outpatient endoscopy clinics.