The State of Texas will receive approximately $291 million from Johnson & Johnson as part of a settlement to resolve lawsuits over the opioid addiction crisis.
Texas joined a multi-state lawsuit this summer against four major drug companies. Hundreds of lawsuits around the country have accused the companies of improperly marketing their opioid products and down-playing the addictive nature of those painkillers. Johnson and Johnson does not admit to any wrong-doing as part of the settlement.
Money from the company will go into a fund set aside to help Texas deal with the impacts of opioid addiction and to reduce instances of prescription drug abuse.
"Dallas County, like so many communities throughout Texas, has been hard hit by an opioid epidemic that was caused and fueled by drug company misconduct," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. Through this settlement, which is the best of its kind in the nation, one of those companies, Johnson and Johnson, has been held to financially account for its role in this crisis. Dallas County, its trial counsel, and the Office of the Attorney General have worked together to achieve this historic result that benefits tens of millions of Texans by promptly putting monies for opioid harm reduction into communities that sorely need it."
Texas could receive up to $1.2 billion from the other companies involved in the case.
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