Attorney General Mike Hunter

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter reached an $8.75 million settlement with Endo Pharmaceuticals, adding to the hundreds of millions of dollars the state already has obtained for costs associated with the opioid crisis.

In a Friday announcement, Hunter said he reached the Endo deal without filing a lawsuit. The state would add the dollars to a fund set up from a previous $85 million settlement reached with Teva Pharmaceuticals last year.

"The money from this settlement as well as the money from other settlements will allow us to begin abating Oklahoma's problem," Hunter said in a statement. "We look forward to working with members of the legislature and executive branch to ensure this money goes toward helping those who have been affected by or those who continue to struggle with opioid addiction."

In a statement, Endo International said the settlement included no admission of wrongdoing, fault or liability, and that the amount was a "fraction" of what other drug companies had paid to resolve opioid lawsuits.

"We believe this settlement reflects the fact that Endo was one of the first pharmaceutical manufacturers to voluntarily cease promotion of all opioid medications, along with voluntarily withdrawing one of its leading branded opioid medications from the market in 2017 and terminating all research and development of new opioid medications," said Matthew Maletta, Endo's chief legal officer. "We also believe that Endo's cooperation and role in manufacturing a broad range of non-opioid pharmaceutical products, including safe and affordable generic medications and lifesaving sterile injectable medications, were important factors in concluding this settlement."

Brad Beckworth, a partner at Nix Patterson in Austin, Texas, and Michael Burrage, co-founder of Whitten Burrage in Oklahoma City, both served as outside counsel to Hunter's office on the deal.

The settlement comes as Hunter is appealing a $475 million judgment against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, following the first opioid trial in the nation. Last month, Hunter filed briefs insisting that the judge should have extended the abatement plan beyond a year, while Johnson & Johnson laid out 39 reasons why the Oklahoma Supreme Court should reverse the judgment, including the judge's interpretation of public nuisance.

Oklahoma also reached a $270 million settlement last year with Purdue Pharma, which has since filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.