With two rounds of national opioid settlements finalized, the Golden Triangle is due to see about $1,719,781 in settlement payments trickling in from pharmaceutical distributors and manufacturers, according to documents from the state attorney general’s office.
Attorney Corky Smith with Sims and Sims Counselors at Law in Columbus, said he represents Columbus, Lowndes County and other entities in the opioid settlements.
Area entities have started receiving the first payments of these settlements that will keep coming through 2038.
Smith became involved in the settlements back in 2018, he said, after hearing about the potential claims being pursued across the country.
“To say there’s a volume of discovery going on is an understatement,” Smith said. “We’re talking about terabytes upon terabytes of data. You know, the DEA got pulled in so that everyone can look at the ARCOS database they maintain that monitors prescriptions all across the country all the way down to a county level by pharmacy, by distributor, by manufacturer, by prescription.”
The first round of settlements, which were reached in 2021, included three distributors, Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen.
A second settlement with Johnson & Johnson, an opioid manufacturer, piggybacked on the distributor settlement, Smith said.
Money breakdown
The first round of settlements ended with the distributors being required to pay up to $21 billion nationwide over 18 years, and J&J paying up to an additional $5 billion nationwide over no more than nine years, according to the National Opioid Settlement website.
In 2022, a second round of National Opioid Settlements with three pharmacy chains, including CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, along with manufacturers Allergan and Teva, was finalized.
Nationwide, Teva is to pay up to $3.34 billion over 13 years and to provide either $1.2 billion of its generic version of the drug Narcan over 10 years or $240 million of cash in lieu of product, as each state may elect. Allergan is required to pay up to $2.02 billion over seven years. CVS to pay up to $4.90 billion over 10 years. Walgreens is required to pay up to $5.52 billion over 15 years, and Walmart is to pay up to $2.74 billion in 2023, with all payments to be made within six years.
The settlements were negotiated with states, along with cities and counties included as subdivisions. The percentage of the settlement each state is receiving is based on population adjusted for the share of the impact of the opioid epidemic using national data. Adjustments also included the severity of impact, the NOS website said.
“You almost need a calculus degree to figure some of it out,” Smith joked.
The state will manage 70% of its settlement for opioid abatement. Another 15% will go to the state government, and the final 15% will go back to the cities and counties that were plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit, Smith said.
“(The subdivisions) can put it into the general fund and then they can use it for whatever expenditures are needed or whatever the city decides to do,” Smith said. “All the abatement requirements and the state requirements that are part of the settlement, the state actually handles those.”
According to the Mississippi Opioid and Heroin Data Collaborative’s 2023 report, 300 of the 392 suspected overdose deaths in the state that calendar year reported to the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics were opioid-related.
Two of those deaths were in Clay County and one death was in Lowndes County. Numbers were not available for Oktibbeha or Noxubee counties, indicating that cases of suspected deaths either did not occur or were not reported by authorities.
According to an updated allocations list from the Attorney General’s Office for the 2021 settlements, Columbus will receive an estimated $214,637, Caledonia will receive about $913 and Lowndes County will receive about $286,277. Oktibbeha County will get about $240,118 and Starkville will get about $30,691. Clay County will get $56,706, West Point will get about $64,524 and Noxubee County will get $56,349.
From the 2022 settlement, totaling the estimated settlement shares from all five companies from documents from the AG, Columbus will receive $164,759.19, Caledonia will receive $700.91 and Lowndes County will receive $219,751.24. Oktibbeha County will receive $184,318.50 and Starkville will receive $23,558.76. Noxubee County will get $43,254.62, while Clay County is due $43,528.20. West Point will receive $49,529.76.
Smith said those payments from the 2021 and 2022 settlements have started to roll out, and the first Teva and Allergen payments came through for Columbus last summer.
Lowndes County Board Attorney Tim Hudson said the county has put its first two settlement payments toward the county’s general fund. Likewise, Columbus CFO Jim Brigham said the city’s payments are going into the general fund.
In Starkville, Ward 2 Alderwoman and budget chair Sandra Sistrunk said the city has received two payments over the past two years, one for $5,000 and the other for $6,000. Each has gone into the general fund, she said, though if more substantial funding comes in, it could be dedicated toward supplies like Narcan for EMT’s with the fire department as well as the police department.
Oktibbeha County board attorney Rob Roberson told The Dispatch Wednesday he did not know if the county had received any opioid payments yet.
Other opioid settlement discussions are still ongoing, Smith said.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
