The City of Arlington will receive more than $1.7 million combined over the next 18 years as a non-litigating participant in opioid litigation settlements announced by the Texas Attorney General.
Texas has reached final agreements with 11 companies to resolve legal claims for their role in the opioid crisis. Nationally, the agreements reached with manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies provide for nearly $50 billion in payments for states and local governments, with Texas receiving nearly $3 billion.
In 2020, nearly 92,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States, a 31% increase from the year before. Opioids were involved in 74.8% of these deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mirroring the national trend, drug overdose deaths in Texas also increased by 31.9% in 2020, driven primarily by the use of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
Texas counties and cities, including Arlington, who join in the settlement can use the funding from the State’s Opioid Abatement Trust Fund to fight the opioid crisis in their communities.
On March 7, the Arlington City Council approved a resolution to be included in the settlements between Texas and opioid manufacturer Allergan and the pharmacies CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart. The City will receive more than $690,000 combined over the next 15 years as a participant in these settlements. Arlington previously joined in settlements with major pharmaceutical distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson and opioid manufacturers Johnson & Johnson, Endo and Teva in 2021 and 2022 for more than $1 million combined over 18 years.
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