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State of California Department of Justice
Rob Bonta
Attorney General
Attorney General
This page provides information for California cities and counties regarding the National Opioids Settlements and opioid-related bankruptcies. Multistate settlements with pharmaceutical distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen (collectively, the Distributors), and with manufacturers Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its parent company Johnson & Johnson (together, J&J), Teva, and Allergan were memorialized in court judgments in 2022 and 2023. Multistate settlements with pharmacies Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS (collectively, the Pharmacies) were memorialized in court judgments in early 2024. You can find additional information listed on the frequently asked questions – Opioid Settlements or Opioid Bankruptcies pages, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Opioid Settlements website at https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/provgovpart/Pages/California-Opioid-Settlements.aspx, the National Opioids Settlements website at https://nationalopioidsettlement.com, and the National Opioid Abatement Trust II website at https://www.nationalopioidabatementtrust.com/Mallinckrodt/Documents.
Cities or counties that have questions regarding the settlements or bankruptcies should contact their respective city attorney/county counsel or outside counsel representing your city/county on opioid-related matters. You may also contact our office via email to OpioidSettlement-LocalGovernment@doj.ca.gov.
If you are not with a local government agency, you may find more information about the Attorney General’s Office, including how to contact the office, via our website https://oag.ca.gov/contact.
The Distributors, J&J, Teva, Allergan, Walgreens, Walmart, and CVS Settlements:
The Distributors, J&J, Teva, Allergan, Walgreens, Walmart, and CVS settlements are expected to provide substantial funds for the abatement of the opioid epidemic in California and throughout the United States, and require that the companies change the way they conduct their businesses. Copies of the judgments, including the settlement documents, are linked here:
The Proposed Kroger Settlement:
The proposed Kroger pharmacy settlement is expected to provide substantial funds for the abatement of the opioid epidemic in California and throughout the United States, and will require changes in the way that the pharmacy conducts its business. This settlement will build on the existing framework that states and subdivisions have created through the other opioid settlements, particularly the Walgreens, Walmart and CVS settlements. The Kroger settlement documents are here:
California, and counsel representing a group of cities and counties, reached agreement on the allocation of recoveries that California receives pursuant to the national opioid settlements. These agreements were formally adopted through the sign-on process for the Distributors, J&J, Teva, Allergan, and Pharmacies settlements. Acceptance of the applicable state subdivision agreement regarding allocation was a condition of a city or county joining these settlements.
Copies of the Distributors, J&J, Teva, Allergan, CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart allocation agreements, which became final through court-ordered judgments, are available here:
A copy of the Kroger proposed allocation agreement is available here:
The Kroger proposed allocation agreement will become final once a court enters the judgment, which has not happened yet. Acceptance of the applicable State Subdivision Agreement on allocation is a condition of a city or county joining this settlement.
Mallinckrodt
Ireland-based Mallinckrodt plc, a drug distributor and manufacturer, filed for bankruptcy in October 2020. As part of the bankruptcy, the company agreed to make changes to its business and to pay $1.725 billion over eight years into a trust that would pay private and public opioid creditors, including states and local governments for opioid abatement. A bankruptcy court confirmed a plan that included the settlement in February 2022. Mallinckrodt made its first payment totaling $450 million to the trust in June 2022. California and counsel representing a group of cities and counties reached agreement on the allocation of funds received from the Mallinckrodt bankruptcy (Statewide Abatement Agreement), which became effective in January 2023. California received its first payment from the Mallinckrodt bankruptcy in January 2023, totaling over $15 million, of which the state received $6 million and local governments received $9 million.
Mallinckrodt failed to make its second scheduled payment to the trust which was due in June 2023. The company ultimately filed a second bankruptcy in August 2023. Prior to the second bankruptcy filing, the company agreed to settle with the trust for a one-time payment of $250 million. California will receive approximately $17 million, with $7 million allocated to the state and $10 million to local governments.
Information related to the National Opioid Abatement Trust II (NOAT II), which administers the distribution of payments to states and local governments for opioid abatement, can be found on the NOAT II website at https://www.nationalopioidabatementtrust.com/. A copy of the California Statewide Abatement Agreement and Notices of Abatement Distribution, which provide the amounts allocated to the state, counties, and cities, can be found on the NOAT II website at https://www.nationalopioidabatementtrust.com/Home/StateTerritoryDetail?ID=14206.