Commissioners agree to participate in opioid settlements

Feb. 21—Pittsburg County commissioners approved a Participation Form for settlements with five companies in relation to prescription opiates litigation.

Commissioners approved the Subdivision and Special District Settlement Participation Form for the Allergen and Teva Settlement, the CVS Settlement, the Walgreens Settlement and the Walmart Settlement.

They are all parts of the National Prescription Opiates Litigation, according to information at the county commissioners' office.

Commissioners took the action to approve participation in the settlements during their regular weekly meeting, held Tuesday this week because of Monday's Presidents Day holiday.

They faced an April 18, 2023 deadline to approve and submit the Participation Form in order to be considered for initial participation calculations and payment eligibility.

At this point, it's not known how much Pittsburg County will get from the settlements, because it partly depends on how many governmental entities respond by approving the Participation Forms by the deadlines.

Joining Commission Chairman/District 1 Commissioner Charlie Rogers in approving the Participation Form were District 2 Commissioner Keven Smith and District 3 Commissioner Ross Selman.

Commissioners took the action during their regular weekly meeting, held Tuesday this week because of Monday's President's Day holiday.

The latest round of National Opioid Settlements were announced in 2022 with three pharmacy chains, Walmart, Walgreens and CVS. Settlements also included two additional manufacturers, Allergan and Teva. All confirmed enough states had agreed to the settlements to move forward.

That gives state and local governments the opportunity to participate in the settlements. The more that participate, the more funds that will be required to be paid out for abatement measures.

According to the Executive Summary of National Opioid Settlements, if there is maximum participation, the Settlement Agreements require the following:

—Walmart is to pay up to $2.74 billion in 2023, and all payments to be made within six years.

—Walgreens is to pay up to $5.52 billion over 15 years.

—CVS is to pay up to $4.90 billion over 10 years.

—Allergan is to pay $2.02 billion over seven years.

—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 in cash in lieu of the product, as each state may elect.

Under terms of both the 2021 and 2022 National Settlements, "at least 85% of the funds going directly to states and subdivisions must be used to help abate the opioid epidemic, with the overwhelming bulk of the proceeds restricted to funding future abatement efforts by state and local governments."

In addition to the money for abatement, the settlements are also imposing changes in how business is conducted by the settling defendants. The Executive Summary of National Opioid Settlements state they include:

—Walgreens, Walmart and CVS "are required to implement changes in how they handle opioids, including requirements addressing how their compliance structures, pharmacist judgment, diversion prevention, suspicious order monitoring, and reporting on red flag processes, as well as blocked and potentially problematic prescribers.

—Teva and Allergan "have agreed to strict limitations on their marketing, promotion, sale and distribution of opioids," including a ban on promotion and lobbying; rewarding or disciplining employees based on volume of opioid sales and funding or grants to third parties.

While huge amounts of money are involved in the settlements, by the time it is divided among all the participating governmental agencies in the nation, individual amounts are much less.

Pittsburg County has already received checks this month from two other opioid litigation settlements.

County Clerk Hope Trammell said her office deposited a check for $7,644.51 on Feb. 7, 2023. The clerk's office deposited a check from a second settlement for $13,056.49, said Trammell.

That brings the total amount collected from the two previous opioid lawsuit settlements to $20,701. Trammell said the money from the litigation settlements is deposited into the county's Opioid Abatement Account.