In December, Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced a round of new settlements with pharmacies and pharmaceutical manufacturers for the companies’ role in the opioid epidemic. Kentucky is slated to receive more than $362 million including:
- $94 million from CVS over ten years
- More than $102 million from Walgreens over the next 15 years
- More than $71 million in the next 13 years from Teva
- More than $42 million over seven years from Allergan
- More than $53 million from Walmart, with most of the funding scheduled for distribution in 2023
These settlements are in addition to the settlements announced earlier in 2022 with three major pharmaceutical distributors and Johnson & Johnson (J&J), worth $478 million to be paid out in installments through 2038.
Through that settlement, counties and cities will receive half of the state’s allocation, approximately $239 million, less funds set aside for payment of fees to the attorneys that represented local governments in the litigation. Read more about the distributor/J&J settlement here.
The newest announcements bring Kentucky’s total opioid settlement dollars to more than $842 million.
Like previous opioid settlements, these funds will be allocated under the terms outlined in HB 427, passed in 2021, distributing 50 percent to local governments and 50 percent to the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth’s portion of the settlement funds will be administered by the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission.
Notices from the settlement administrator
KACo was informed by the Attorney General’s office that notices will be going out soon to local governments regarding the newest settlements. You can view a sample of what a notice may look like here. The notices will come from Rubris Inc., the Settlement Implementation Administrator, and will include information about the settlements and how counties can participate.
View a sample opioid settlement overview from the administrator here.
According to the overview, counties (“eligible subdivisions”) must decide whether to participate in each settlement.
The settlements require that counties take affirmative steps to “opt in”. In the next few weeks, you will receive documentation and instructions about how to participate from the Implementation Administrator. In order to participate in a settlement, your county must sign and return the required participation form for that settlement.
The deadline to return the required documentation is April 18, 2023. Documentation submitted for prior national settlements is not applicable to new settlements.
Questions about this notice or the process for receiving and submitting the required settlement participation forms should be directed to your County Attorney or the Implementation Administrator at opioidsparticipation@rubris.com.
