City of Moultrie, Colquitt County receive funds from national opioid settlement

Kasmira Smith, The Moultrie Observer, Ga.
·3 min read

Feb. 18—MOULTRIE, Ga. — The City of Moultrie and Colquitt County have received funds from a multi-state settlement in a lawsuit against several major pharmaceutical companies for their role in the opioid crisis.

Attorney General Chris Carr announced in December that the State of Georgia joined a $3.1 billion national settlement with Walmart to resolve allegations that the company failed to appropriately oversee the dispensing of opioids at its stores.

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported a total of 1,309 deaths were related to opioids in 2020.

"The opioid epidemic has destroyed lives, families, and communities all across our state and nation," Carr said. "By joining this settlement, we will receive much-needed resources to help support Georgians in recovery and our neighbors struggling with addiction. This is one of several actions we have taken to help combat the opioid crisis, and we will continue to do all we can to address the damage it's caused throughout our state."

Georgia was set to receive a $28 million base payment to fund critical treatment and recovery services for those struggling with opioid use disorder. The settlement asks Walmart to undergo oversight measures to help prevent the filling of fraudulent prescriptions and flag suspicious prescriptions.

Carr announced in early January that Georgia joined national settlements with CVS, Walgreens, Teva and Allergan for their alleged contribution to the crisis. The state is set to receive more than $181 million in total base payments from that settlement to help fund critical treatment, prevention, reduction and recovery services.

Georgia will receive $50.1 million from CVS and $58.7 million from Walgreens. Both companies agreed to court-ordered injunctive relief that requires the pharmacies to monitor, report, and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions, the press release said.

"Walmart, CVS and Walgreens were not defendants in Georgia's ongoing litigation involving opioid distributors," Carr said in the release. "Instead, the companies approached the state with these settlement offers, which Georgia then accepted."

Teva will pay $44.9 million and Allergan will pay $27.4 million to Georgia. Both companies were defendants in Georgia's litigation involving opioid manufacturers.

Local governments were also able to sign on to the settlement.

The City of Moultrie has currently received $8,000 in the settlement, but has not made any plans for the fund's usage, City Manager Pete Dillard told The Observer Tuesday.

Colquitt County received a larger sum of $53,841.26 and they have not decided how to use the funds, Melissa Lawson, the county clerk, said by email Wednesday.

Dillard and Lawson said guidelines require the money mainly be used for abatement purposes or targeting opioid remediation.

According to court documents, examples of the abatement of opioid remediation range from expanding training for first responders, schools, community support groups and families about naloxone or other FDA-approved drugs to reverse opioid overdoses to supporting people in recovery from opioid use disorder and any co-occurring substance use disorder and mental health conditions through evidence-based or informed programs.

"No Georgia community is a stranger to the devastating effects of the opioid crisis, and we must do all we can to support those who are struggling. Our top priority is to protect our fellow Georgians, and joining these settlements will ensure that our state receives much-needed resources to help expand critical treatment and recovery services," Carr said.