Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced today that Oregon will receive an accelerated payment of $46 million this year from Oregon’s $66 million share of the $5 billion national settlement with Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), for their deceptive promotion of opioids that helped fuel the opioid crisis. As stipulated under the national settlement agreement, Oregon had to receive voluntary participation by 22 Oregon special districts (a form of local government) in order to receive money from the Johnson & Johnson settlement this year instead of it being spread out over the next four years.
With the sign-off from these special districts, Oregon’s $46 million payment will occur within the next 90 days. Oregon has already received $25 million in settlement payments in 2022.
“This money is vitally needed to address the recent spike in overdose deaths in Oregon and will help save lives. I want to thank these 22 Special Districts for their cooperation in making sure that our state is best positioned to put the settlement money to work as soon as possible,” said Attorney General Rosenblum. “These key sign-offs are incredibly important and appreciated.”
In July, AG Rosenblum announced that Oregon would receive $25 million this year (out of the $326 million to be paid out over 18 years) from the national settlement with Johnson & Johnson and the three largest distributors of opioids —Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen. At the time, it was noted there was the possibility of more money coming in this year if we could reach an agreement with the special districts.
Read Attorney General Rosenblum’s letter thanking each of these special districts for their cooperation here.
The special districts that signed off on the agreement are:
- Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue
- Columbia River Fire & Rescue
- Deschutes County Rural Fire Protection District #2
- Clackamas Fire District #1
- Jackson County Fire District #3
- Douglas County Fire District #2
- Keizer Fire District
- Canby Fire District
- Lane Fire Authority
- Lebanon Fire District
- Marion County Fire District #1
- Redmond Fire and Rescue
- Sandy Rural Fire District
- South Lane County Fire & Rescue
- Umatilla Fire District # 1
- Woodburn Fire Department
- Polk County Fire District # 1
- Molalla Fire District
- Portland Public School District
- Beaverton School District
- Salem-Keizer School District
- Bay Area Hospital District
AG Rosenblum also thanked Senior Assistant Attorney General David Hart, whose efforts over fifteen years handling the pharmaceutical cases for Oregon DOJ continue, with nothing less than superlative results.