Concerns raised over county's latest opioid settlement

Apr. 10—Ahead of a Cobb Board of Commissioners vote to move forward with a lawsuit settlement over the opioid crisis, Commissioner Keli Gambrill wants to see money going toward "the root cause."

Gambrill told the MDJ she wants the settlement money used both to make sure patients are not being overprescribed opioids by multiple sources and to stop opioids, primarily fentanyl, from coming over the U.S.'s southern border with Mexico.

The commission will decide Tuesday on authorizing county attorneys to settle a lawsuit with drug manufacturers Teva and Allergan and pharmacies Walmart, Walgreens and CVS, "in an effort to hold (them) financially responsible for the impact of the opioid epidemic on Cobb County and to secure resources necessary to combat the opioid epidemic."

The topic came up during Monday's commission work session, where Gambrill raised multiple issues she had with the proposal for authorizing the settlement.

In addition to her desire for where the money goes, Gambrill voiced her concerns about Cobb officials, and Chairwoman Lisa Cupid specifically, discussing the settlement with community nonprofits combating drug abuse.

"The county is getting this money because of distribution, but none of these nonprofits are going to help stop the distribution of these opioids. I mean, we're still not addressing the root cause of the opioid crisis," Gambrill said.

Third opioid lawsuit

Responding to Gambrill's concerns, Cobb County attorney Bill Rowling noted this is the county's third settlement related to the opioid crisis and that it is common knowledge that Cobb is receiving funds from litigation.

Cobb already settled with pharmacy chain Rite Aid for $3.5 million in July, part of $10.5 million split between Cobb, Ohio's Montgomery County and North Carolina's Durham County.

The county has not yet announced how the funds it received from that settlement will be used.

And in November 2021, Cobb signed onto a $26 billion nationwide settlement with four companies: Johnson & Johnson will pay out $5 billion nationwide over the next 9 years, while AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson are set to pay a total of $21 billion over the next 18 years.

Georgia joined that settlement in January 2022, and it stands to pay the state and its local governments $636 million.

No specifics about the distribution of funds from the latest lawsuit have yet been discussed with nonprofits, Cupid said, nor did community organizations come to her proposing the authorization of settling the lawsuit.

"Commissioner ... before you start making accusations or assumptions, there is public knowledge that there are lawsuits against organizations involved in the distribution and the manufacturing of opioids," Cupid said. "And people know funds are coming to communities based on litigation, that's not a secret."

Cupid added that none of the conversations about the litigation in the commission's previous executive sessions, which are closed to the public, had been shared with outside organizations.

"This has been on the news, this has been on WABE, and that's not by function of any personal conversation or secret information discussed in exec, that's by people knowing that this is a national issue, knowing that there's national litigation," Cupid said.

Details still vague

Cupid also said earlier in the meeting that it would be up to the board to decide by "a policy decision" how the funds from the settlement would be distributed.

Rowling made mention of press releases from the office of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr about the settlements with the five companies and confirmed to Gambrill there are strings attached to the money the county would receive.

According to those press releases, the money will be used "to help fund critical treatment and recovery services for those struggling with opioid use disorder" and "to help fund critical treatment, prevention, reduction and recovery services."

While it is unknown how much Cobb will get from the settlement, Georgia is set to receive nearly $210 million combined from the two manufacturers and three pharmacies.

Commissioner Jerica Richardson said toward the end of the discussion that the agenda item at issue would create a new bank account and fund for receipt of the money from the settlement, and she reminded Gambrill that the final destination of those funds has yet to be decided.

She also said county staff have been out in the community working to understand where Cobb could most effectively spend funds received in settlements.

"Again, but my issue is we're still not addressing distribution. Nonprofits aren't going to get drugs off the street," Gambrill said, echoing a statement she made in November when she was the lone vote in opposition to the county joining the $26 billion settlement against major distributors of opioids.

Richardson agreed with Gambrill before asking her colleague to look at the bigger picture.

"It's a full, complete picture, you have distribution and you have impact, so we have to be mindful of all those things," Richardson said.