Agenda - Council - 12/14/2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

If your subdivision is represented by an attorney with respect to opioid claims, please immediately contact them. SETTLEMENT OVERVIEW After years of negotiations, two proposed nationwide settlement agreements ("Settlements") have been reached that would resolve all opioid litigation brought by states and local political subdivisions against the three largest pharmaceutical distributors, McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen ("Distributors"), and one manufacturer, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and its parent company Johnson &Johnson (collectively, "Janssen"). The proposed Settlements require the Distributors and Janssen to pay billions of dollars to abate the opioid epidemic. Specifically, the Settlements require the Distributors to pay up to $21 billion over 18 years and Janssen to pay up to $5 billion over no more than 9 years, for a total of$26 billion (the "Settlement Amount"). Of the Settlement Amount, approximately$22.7 billion is earmarked for use by participating states and subdivisions to remediate and abate the impacts of the opioid crisis. The Settlements also contain injunctive relief provisions governing the opioid marketing, sale and distribution practices at the heart of the states' and subdivisions' lawsuits and further require the Distributors to implement additional safeguards to prevent diversion of prescription opioids. Each of the proposed Settlements has two key participation steps. First, each state decides whether to participate in the Settlement. Minnesota has joined both Settlements. Second, the subdivisions within each participating state must then decide whether to participate in the Settlements. Generally, the more subdivisions that participate, the greater the amount of funds that flow to that state and its participating subdivisions. Any subdivision that does not participate cannot directly share in any of the settlement funds, even if the subdivision's state is settling and other participating subdivisions are sharing in settlement funds. This letter is part of the formal notice required by the Settlements. WHY IS YOUR SUBDIVISION RECEIVING THIS NOTICE? You are receiving this letter because Minnesota has elected to participate in both of the two national Settlements against (1) the Distributors, and (2)Janssen, and your subdivision may participate in the Settlements to which your state has agreed. This notice is being sent directly to subdivisions and also to attorneys for subdivisions that we understand are litigating against these companies. If you are represented by an attorney with respect to opioid claims, please immediately contact them. Please note that there is no need for subdivisions to be represented by an attorney or to have filed a lawsuit to participate in the Settlements. WHERE CAN YOU FIND MORE INFORMATION? This letter is intended to provide a brief overview of the Settlements. Detailed information about the Settlements may be found at: www.nationalopioidsettlement.com. This national settlement website also includes links to information about how the Settlements are being implemented in your state and how settlement funds will be allocated within your state. This website will be supplemented as additional