Opioid Settlements: What the State Agreements Provide

The national opioid settlements are a group of agreements, not one case. Starting in 2021, state attorneys general and lawyers for local governments resolved claims against the three largest drug distributors (McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen), against Janssen Pharmaceuticals and its parent Johnson & Johnson, and later against the pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart and the manufacturers Teva and Allergan. The settlement materials reviewed here put the committed amounts in the tens of billions of dollars, paid out over years, with almost all of it restricted to abatement: treatment, recovery, prevention, and related public health work. The agreements do not pay individuals, and the documents reviewed here record no court finding that any settling company caused a particular person’s opioid use disorder.

What is established vs. what is alleged

Established by the documents reviewed here: the settlements and their named parties; the payment schedules below; the rules that restrict spending to abatement; the injunctive terms; and the procedural steps the courts and states have taken. The Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, which maintains the official settlement information site, states that the 2021 settlements with the distributors and with Janssen and Johnson & Johnson are finalized and that payments have begun. The New York Attorney General states that the first distributor payments went to direct-pay subdivisions and to New York State in April 2022.

Alleged, or still undecided: the underlying claims. The lawsuits these settlements resolve asserted that opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers knew opioids are more addictive than they claimed and supplied them in ways that harmed communities. A settlement resolves a claim by agreement; it is not a trial finding, and the documents reviewed here record no court judgment that any settling defendant caused a specific person’s addiction.

How the settlements are structured

The 2021 settlements resolved claims against the distributors and against Janssen and Johnson & Johnson. The Executive Summary states that the distributors will pay up to $21 billion over 18 years and Johnson & Johnson up to an additional $5 billion over no more than nine years.

The 2022 settlements covered the pharmacy chains and two more manufacturers. Assuming maximum participation, the Executive Summary states that Teva will pay up to $3.34 billion over 13 years and provide either $1.2 billion of its generic version of the overdose-reversal drug Narcan over 10 years or $240 million in cash instead; Allergan up to $2.02 billion over seven years; CVS up to $4.90 billion over 10 years; Walgreens up to $5.52 billion over 15 years; and Walmart up to $2.74 billion, with all payments made within six years. Those figures include amounts for earlier state and subdivision settlements and for attorneys’ fees and costs. The summary adds that the distributors must create a clearinghouse to account for their own and other distributors’ shipments and to detect and report suspicious opioid orders, and that Johnson & Johnson, Teva, and Allergan accepted limits on opioid marketing, promotion, and lobbying.

Where the money goes

Most of the money is restricted to abatement. The Executive Summary states that at least 85 percent of the funds going directly to participating states and subdivisions must be used for abatement of the opioid epidemic. The settlement FAQ states that at least 70 percent of the funds are to be used for future opioid remediation, and that the approved uses and core strategies are listed in Exhibit E to the agreements.

For the distributor and Janssen settlements, the FAQ states that about $23.5 billion of the maximum $26 billion would be available for abatement with full participation, that about $760 million of that is set aside as a credit toward potential tribal and subdivision settlements, leaving a net abatement fund of about $22.8 billion, and that up to $1.95 billion in separate funds is set aside toward private counsel attorneys’ fees. About half of the abatement funds are earmarked for base payments, about $12.1 billion, and the rest for incentive payments, about $10.6 billion, depending on how many of a state’s subdivisions join.

Within a state, the FAQ states that money is allocated under any qualifying state-subdivision agreement or statute. Absent one, the default splits funds among three subfunds: 15 percent to a State Fund, 70 percent to an Abatement Accounts Fund, and 15 percent to a Subdivision Fund. Under that default, at least 50 percent of the annual spend from the Abatement Accounts Fund must be allocated at a regional level in states above a certain population, and each state has an Advisory Committee with equal state and local representation.

Where the litigation and the settlements stand

The federal claims were consolidated in 2017 into a multidistrict proceeding in the Northern District of Ohio before Judge Dan A. Polster. The court’s own docket, MDL No. 2804 (Case No. 1:17-md-2804), is the source for the number and the judge. The mass tort section collects this publication’s coverage of coordinated claims, and how mass tort litigation works explains what a multidistrict proceeding does and does not decide.

The 2021 and 2022 national settlements are described as finalized. A separate strand is the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York (Case No. 19-23649). That court entered an order confirming the Purdue plan on November 18, 2025, and the MDL docket recorded a notice of the order, which confirms the plan and enjoins continued proceedings against the Purdue debtors, on November 21, 2025. The Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee states that a $7.4 billion Purdue settlement took legal effect in May 2026. Other strands remain open: the MDL Orders page records an order of April 14, 2026 establishing qualified settlement funds for settlements with the “remnant defendants”, and orders of June 16 and 18, 2026 granting third-party payor plaintiffs’ preliminary approval of a class settlement and notice under Rule 23(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. MDL vs class action sets out why those two kinds of proceeding differ.

What is not covered

The settlements are open only to states and their subdivisions. The settlement FAQ states that claims brought on behalf of private individuals and businesses, including private hospitals and private third-party payers, are not included and will not be released, so an individual cannot be paid under these agreements.

Tribes are handled separately. The official tribal settlements site states that the tribal settlements involve the Purdue and Mallinckrodt bankruptcies, the pharmacy and manufacturer defendants, the distributors, and several generic manufacturers; that the funds must be used for abatement of the opioid epidemic across Indian Country; and that tribes must file an annual report on how the funds are spent to remain eligible for later distributions.

Key dates

• 2017: the federal opioid cases are consolidated into a multidistrict proceeding in the Northern District of Ohio, before Judge Dan A. Polster.
• September 15, 2019: Purdue Pharma L.P. and affiliated debtors file for Chapter 11 in the Southern District of New York.
• 2021: nationwide settlements are reached with the three largest distributors and with Janssen and Johnson & Johnson.
• April 2022: the first distributor settlement payments go to direct-pay subdivisions and to New York State, according to the New York Attorney General.
• Late 2022: settlements are announced with CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Allergan, and Teva.
• January 2023: enough states confirm participation for the 2022 settlements to proceed.
• November 18, 2025: the bankruptcy court enters the order confirming the Purdue plan.
• November 21, 2025: the confirmation order is recorded on the MDL docket, with the injunction against continued proceedings against the Purdue debtors.
• April 14, 2026: the MDL court orders qualified settlement funds for settlements with the remnant defendants.
• May 2026: the $7.4 billion Purdue settlement takes legal effect, per the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee.
• June 16 and 18, 2026: the MDL court grants preliminary approval of the third-party payor class settlement and directs notice.

What this does not establish

The dollar figures are commitments stated in the agreements and the settlement materials, not money already received. Several are maximums that depend on how many states and subdivisions participate, and the materials state that payments can be suspended or offset in defined circumstances, including litigation by non-settling subdivisions and financial constraints on a settling defendant.

The settlements do not resolve any individual’s claim, and there is no individual payment under them. They are agreed resolutions, not findings that any company caused any person’s opioid use disorder, and the documents reviewed here record no such finding.

Frequently asked questions

Can an individual receive money from the opioid settlements?

No. The national settlements are open only to states and their subdivisions, and the settlement FAQ states that claims by private individuals and businesses, including private hospitals and private third-party payers, are not included and will not be released. Tribes participate through separate settlements, whose funds are for tribal abatement rather than individual payments.

How large are the settlements?

The 2021 settlements provide for up to $21 billion from the distributors over 18 years and up to $5 billion from Johnson & Johnson over no more than nine years. The Executive Summary states that the 2022 settlements provide up to $3.34 billion from Teva, $2.02 billion from Allergan, $4.90 billion from CVS, $5.52 billion from Walgreens, and $2.74 billion from Walmart.

What is the money used for?

Most of it is tied to abatement: treatment, recovery, prevention, and related public health work. The settlement materials state that at least 70 percent of the funds are to be used for future opioid remediation, that at least 85 percent of the money going directly to states and subdivisions is restricted to abatement, and that the approved uses are listed in Exhibit E to the agreements.

Where do the cases stand now?

The federal claims are consolidated in MDL No. 2804 in the Northern District of Ohio before Judge Dan A. Polster. The 2021 and 2022 settlements are described as finalized and pay out over years. The Purdue bankruptcy produced a confirmed plan and a $7.4 billion settlement effective in May 2026, and the third-party payor class settlement reached preliminary approval in June 2026.

Do the settlements end all opioid litigation?

No. The settlements release the claims of the states and the participating subdivisions that sign releases, and the Executive Summary states that they do not settle or release claims brought by tribes or by private parties, including private individuals, private hospitals, and private third-party payers.

Sources

1. Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, National Prescription Opiate Litigation: “Executive Summary of National Opioid Settlements (updated May 6, 2024)” (link, accessed 2026-10-15)
2. Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, National Prescription Opiate Litigation: “Frequently Asked Questions about the National Opioid Settlement (Distributor and Janssen settlements)” (link, accessed 2026-10-15)
3. Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, National Prescription Opiate Litigation: “Approved Uses and Core Strategy for Opioid Remediation Funds” (link, accessed 2026-10-15)
4. Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, National Prescription Opiate Litigation: “Risks and Assumptions” (link, accessed 2026-10-15)
5. Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, National Prescription Opiate Litigation: “Opioid Plaintiff Counsel Statement on Purdue Pharma’s $7.4 billion settlement taking legal effect (May 12, 2026)” (link, accessed 2026-10-15)
6. Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, National Prescription Opiate Litigation: “MDL Orders” (link, accessed 2026-10-15)
7. U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, MDL No. 2804: “Notice of Bankruptcy Court Order Confirming Bankruptcy Plan and Enjoining Continuation of Proceedings as to Debtor Purdue Pharma, L.P., MDL No. 2804, docket entry 6380 (filed November 21, 2025)” (link, accessed 2026-10-15)
8. New York State Office of the Attorney General: “Initial Payments under the opioid settlements” (link, accessed 2026-10-15)
9. Tribal Opioid Settlements (official tribal settlement website): “Tribal Opioid Settlements” (link, accessed 2026-10-15)

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