XML 145 R20.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.25.1
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2025
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies Legal Proceedings and Contingencies AbbVie is subject to contingencies, such as various claims, legal proceedings and investigations regarding product liability, intellectual property, commercial, securities and other matters that arise in the normal course of business. Loss contingency provisions are recorded for probable losses at management’s best estimate of a loss, or when a best estimate cannot be made, a minimum loss contingency amount within a probable range is recorded. The recorded accrual balance for litigation was approximately $1.8 billion as of March 31, 2025 and $2.5 billion as of December 31, 2024. For litigation matters discussed below for which a loss is probable or reasonably possible, the company is unable to estimate the possible loss or range of loss, if any, beyond the amounts accrued. Initiation of new legal proceedings or a change in the status of existing proceedings may result in a change in the estimated loss accrued by AbbVie. While it is not feasible to predict the outcome of all proceedings and exposures with certainty, management believes that their ultimate disposition should not have a material adverse effect on AbbVie’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Subject to certain exceptions specified in the separation agreement by and between Abbott Laboratories (Abbott) and AbbVie, AbbVie assumed the liability for, and control of, all pending and threatened legal matters related to its business, including liabilities for any claims or legal proceedings related to products that had been part of its business, but were discontinued prior to the distribution, as well as assumed or retained liabilities, and will indemnify Abbott for any liability arising out of or resulting from such assumed legal matters.
Antitrust Litigation
Lawsuits are pending against AbbVie and others generally alleging that the 2005 patent litigation settlement involving Niaspan entered into between Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a company acquired by Abbott in 2006 and presently a subsidiary of AbbVie) and a
generic company violated federal and state antitrust laws and state unfair and deceptive trade practices and unjust enrichment laws. Plaintiffs generally seek monetary damages and/or injunctive relief and attorneys' fees. The lawsuits pending in federal court consist of six individual plaintiff lawsuits and a certified class action by Niaspan direct purchasers. The cases are pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for coordinated or consolidated pre-trial proceedings under the federal multi-district litigation (MDL) Rules as In re: Niaspan Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2460. In October 2016, the Orange County, California District Attorney’s Office filed a lawsuit on behalf of the State of California regarding the Niaspan patent litigation settlement in Orange County Superior Court, asserting a claim under the unfair competition provision of the California Business and Professions Code seeking injunctive relief, restitution, civil penalties and attorneys’ fees.
In November 2022, the State of Oregon filed a lawsuit in the Multnomah County, Oregon Circuit Court, alleging that 2011 patent litigation by Abbott with a generic company regarding AndroGel was sham litigation and the settlement of that litigation violated state antitrust law. Oregon also brought a claim under the Oregon False Claims Act, which the court dismissed on October 31, 2024. In March 2025, the court approved the parties’ settlement of this matter.

Government Proceedings
Lawsuits are pending against Allergan and several other manufacturers generally alleging that they improperly promoted and sold prescription opioid products. Approximately 430 lawsuits are pending against Allergan in federal and state courts. Most of the federal court lawsuits are consolidated for pre-trial purposes in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio under the MDL rules as In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL No. 2804. Approximately 30 of the lawsuits are pending in various state courts. The plaintiffs in these lawsuits, which include states, counties, cities, other municipal entities, Native American tribes, union trust funds and other third-party payors, private hospitals and personal injury claimants, generally seek compensatory and punitive damages. Of these approximately 430 lawsuits, approximately 25 of them are brought by states, counties, cities, and other municipal entities, approximately 5 of which are in the process of being dismissed pursuant to the previously announced settlement. Another approximately 45 of the approximately 430 lawsuits are in the process of being dismissed pursuant to class settlement between Allergan and a class of acute care hospitals, which received final court approval in March 2025.
In March 2023, AbbVie Inc. filed a petition in the United States Tax Court, AbbVie Inc. and Subsidiaries v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The petition disputes the Internal Revenue Service determination concerning a $572 million income tax benefit recorded in 2014 related to a payment made to a third party for the termination of a proposed business combination.
Shareholder and Securities Litigation
In October 2018, a federal securities lawsuit, Holwill v. AbbVie Inc., et al., was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against AbbVie, its former chief executive officer and former chief financial officer, alleging that reasons stated for Humira sales growth in financial filings between 2013 and 2018 were misleading because they omitted alleged misconduct in connection with Humira patient and reimbursement support services and other services and items of value that allegedly induced Humira prescriptions. In September 2021, the court granted plaintiffs' motion to certify a class.
Product Liability and General Litigation
In April 2023, a putative class action lawsuit, Camargo v. AbbVie Inc., was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of Humira patients who paid for Humira based on its list price or who, after losing insurance coverage, discontinued Humira because they could not pay based on its list price, alleging that Humira’s list price is excessive in violation of multiple states’ unfair and deceptive trade practices statutes. The plaintiff generally seeks monetary damages, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees.
In 2018, a qui tam lawsuit, U.S. ex rel. Silbersher v. Allergan Inc., et al., was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against several Allergan entities and others, alleging that their conduct before the U.S. Patent Office resulted in false claims for payment being made to federal and state healthcare payors for Namenda XR and Namzaric. The plaintiff-relator sought damages and attorneys' fees under the federal False Claims Act and state law analogues. The federal government and state governments declined to intervene in the lawsuit. In March 2023, the court granted Allergan’s motion to dismiss, dismissing plaintiff-relator’s federal law claims with prejudice and state law claims without prejudice. In January 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed that dismissal.
Lawsuits are pending against various Allergan entities in the United States and other countries including Brazil, Canada, South Korea, and the Netherlands, in which plaintiffs generally allege that they developed, or may develop, breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) or other injuries from Allergan’s Biocell® textured breast implants, which were voluntarily withdrawn from worldwide markets in 2019. Approximately 145 ALCL lawsuits and 1,260 other lawsuits are coordinated for pre-trial purposes in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey under the MDL rules as In re: Allergan Biocell Textured Breast Implant
Product Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2921. Approximately 75 ALCL lawsuits and 475 other lawsuits are pending in various state courts. Approximately 60 ALCL and 1,000 other lawsuits are pending in other countries. Plaintiffs generally seek monetary damages, medical monitoring, and attorneys’ fees.
In January 2025, a putative class action lawsuit, Sheet Metal Workers’ Health Plan of Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada v. AbbVie Inc., was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of third-party payors of Humira, alleging that AbbVie’s rebating practices are impairing biosimilar competition with Humira in violation of federal and state antitrust laws. The plaintiff generally seeks monetary damages, injunctive relief and attorneys' fees.
Intellectual Property Litigation
AbbVie Inc. is seeking to enforce patent rights relating to upadacitinib (a drug sold under the trademark Rinvoq). Litigation was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware in November 2023 against Hetero USA, Inc., Hetero Labs Limited, Hetero Labs Limited Unit-V, Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc., Aurobindo Pharma Ltd., Sandoz, Inc., Sandoz Private Limited, Sandoz GMBH, and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. AbbVie alleges defendants’ proposed generic upadacitinib products infringe certain patents and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief.
AbbVie Inc. is seeking to enforce patent rights related to ubrogepant (a drug sold under the trademark Ubrelvy). Litigation was filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in March 2024 against Aurobindo Pharma U.S.A., Inc., Aurobindo Pharma Limited, and Apitoria Pharma Private Limited; Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA) Inc. and Zydus Lifesciences Limited; MSN Pharmaceuticals Inc., MSN Laboratories Private Limited, and MSN Life Sciences Private Limited; and Hetero USA Inc., Hetero Labs Limited Unit-III, and Hetero Labs Limited. AbbVie alleges defendants’ proposed generic ubrogepant products infringe certain patents and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief. Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, which exclusively licenses certain patents to AbbVie, is a co-plaintiff in the litigation.