Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has announced a new $720 million multistate opioid settlement with eight pharmaceutical companies accused of exacerbating the nationwide opioid epidemic. The agreement, reached in collaboration with state attorneys general across the country, opens a sign-on period allowing local governments to participate in the payout.
Texas and its political subdivisions stand to receive up to $45.5 million from the deal.
“These manufacturers played a role in creating one of the most destructive public health crises our country has ever faced,” said Paxton. “These settlements are an important step in holding companies accountable for their reckless greed and the part they had in worsening the opioid epidemic, which has devastated our communities and poisoned countless Texans.”
The eight defendants and their respective contributions include Mylan ($284.4 million over nine years), Hikma ($95.8 million over one to four years), Amneal ($71.7 million over ten years), Apotex ($63.6 million in a single year), Indivior ($38 million over four years), Sun ($30.9 million over one to four years), Alvogen ($18.6 million in a single year), and Zydus ($14.8 million in a single year).
In addition to monetary payments, seven of the companies, excluding Indivior, have agreed to broad injunctive relief measures. These include bans on opioid promotion, limits on manufacturing high-dose opioid pills (over 40 mg oxycodone per unit), and implementation of monitoring systems for suspicious orders.
Indivior has agreed not to manufacture or sell opioid products for the next ten years, but it may continue providing treatments for opioid use disorder.
This settlement builds on nearly $3.34 billion in funds secured by Paxton from opioid-related litigation since the start of the crisis. Texas has set aside these funds for opioid abatement efforts.
