Cape towns to receive $3.17M payout from multi-billion dollar opioid settlement
More than half of the towns on the Cape say they will accept money as part of a $26 billion settlement with three opioid distributors and one manufacturer.
The rest of the towns now have until Jan. 26 to let state Attorney General Maura Healey's office know if they want to be part of the settlement. The money is earmarked for drug prevention and treatment.
Officials in Brewster, Chatham, Orleans, Mashpee, Sandwich, Bourne, Yarmouth, Provincetown, Wellfleet and Truro said they have agreed to accept the money. The town of Falmouth has not opted in. Officials in Dennis, Eastham, Barnstable and Harwich could not be reached for a comment Tuesday
The settlement, which was reached in July, holds three drug distributors — Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen — and pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, accountable for their roles in the U.S. opioid epidemic.
Massachusetts is set to receive up to $537 million from the settlement. States collectively decided how much money each would get based on a formula that considered the impact of the opioid epidemic in that specific state — using factors like overdose deaths, number of residents with substance abuse disorder, number of opioids prescribed and population, according to a release from Healey's office.
Municipalities will collectively receive 15% of that approximate $537 million, according to Healey's office. Each individual municipality will receive a part of that percentage.
For example, Barnstable would receive 0.858% of the municipal funds — or about $691,119 — and the most of any town on the Cape. Statewide, the town ranks 19th among all communities with its percentage of allotted funds.
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In total, the Cape is set to receive a total of approximately $3.17 million distributed among 15 towns as part of the settlement, according to a Times analysis of the attorney general's office data. In addition, about $51,552 will go to Barnstable County.
Attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas were involved in the litigation, according to a release from Healey's office.
“I promised the people of Massachusetts that the opioid crisis would be a top priority, that we would hold the bad actors accountable, and that the billion-dollar companies who got rich off the suffering in our communities would pay,” Healey said when the settlement was announced. “(The) announcement is another step forward in that work. This money will benefit every city and town in every part of our state. My team worked hard to make this happen, and we will continue to pursue justice for the people who were hurt and secure resources for prevention, treatment, and recovery.”
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According to the release, the three drug distributors will pay up to $21 billion over 18 years. Johnson & Johnson will pay up to $5 billion over nine years.
Funds that do not go to municipalities will go to the statewide Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund for opioid prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery programs statewide.
Besides having to pay billions of dollars over the next several years, the drug companies also must agree to provide for 10 years certain information about their practices. The drug distributors are ordered to create a centralized independent clearinghouse to provide the distributors and state regulators with data and analytics about the movements of drugs.
They are also being ordered to use various methods to combat suspicious opioid orders and misuse and illegal distribution of drugs.
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Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to stop selling opioids, for example.
Those industry changes are intended to prevent an opioid crisis from ever happening again, according to the release.
Here are approximate settlement amounts earmarked for the Cape based on data from the attorney general's office:
Barnstable; $691,119
Bourne; $304,479
Brewster; $103,104
Chatham; $136,130
Dennis; $78,134
Eastham; $63,635
Falmouth; $534,047
Harwich; $230,373
Mashpee; $278,703
Orleans; $75,717
Provincetown; $72,495
Sandwich; $397,917
Truro; $48,330
Wellfleet; $53,969
Yarmouth; $105,520
Gregory Bryant contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod towns to receive $3.17M payout from $26B opioid settlement
