Bexar County, which sued more than 50 drug manufacturing and distributing companies in 2018, will receive $12 million from Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to tackle the opioid crisis.
The settlement is part of a $290 million allotted to Texas to deal with the ongoing opioid crisis in the state. J&J will pay around $2.3 million directly to the county and would receive $1.8 million from the statewide settlement.
Texas' attorney general (AG) said that the settlement would give much-needed relief to the people affected due to opioids and illicit marketing strategies of the manufacturers.
The remaining companies which are facing lawsuits from Bexar County still have time to propose their settlement, as the trial has been rescheduled from October 2020 to May 2022.
The agreement also allots $8 million from the statewide settlement as the county falls under “health care region”. A total of $17.6 million is to be allocated to the entire region falling under this category.
Bexar County's commissioners will decide the use of the settlement amount, as they have earlier announced that the county will prioritise payout toward opioid and substance abuse treatment programs.
The county will also benefit from a $26 billion multi-state opioid settlement as Texas is involved in the agreement that has ordered McKesson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to pay for the opioid epidemic.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided data explaining that from 1999 to 2019, half a million people in the United States died because of opioid overdose.
