Tuesday, Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that the State of Alabama had reached settlements with three pharmaceutical companies due to their alleged role in facilitating the Yellowhammer State’s opioid crisis.
The settlement funds amount to approximately $276 million, according to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office.
Last year, Marshall opted against joining other state attorneys general in a national opioid settlement in favor of pursuing a settlement specific to Alabama’s opioid crisis.
“These three settlement agreements affirm my decision to decline participation in the national opioid settlements, which did not adequately acknowledge the unique harm that Alabamians have endured and would have redirected millions of dollars to bigger states that experienced a less severe impact,” noted Marshall in a release.
The state and its subdivisions will receive $25 million from Ireland-based drug manufacturer Endo Pharmaceutical in a lump-sum payment. States with comparable populations and their subdivisions settled with Endo 26% and 35% of the total that Alabama secured. The state will receive $15 million, with its subdivisions being allocated $10 million.
Alabama and its subdivisions will evenly divide $70.3 million that they are set to receive in a lump-sum payment from pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson and Johnson. Had the attorney general pursed the national settlement, the state would have been paid the settlement throughout the course of nine years, Marshall’s office advised.
Pharmaceutical distributor McKesson will pay out $141 million to the state and its subdivisions evenly over the span of nine years. Alabama would have received only $115.8 million over the course of 18 years had it partaken in the national settlement, according to the attorney general’s office.
Additionally, the state recovered approximately $40 million in attorneys’ fees and costs.
The Alabama Legislature will review an assessment performed by the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council to determine how best to appropriate the funds.
Marshall extended appreciation to members of the council for their work in formulating a plan to address the effects of the state’s opioid crisis.
“I am grateful to each member of the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council who has put in the time and energy to provide our legislators with a roadmap as they make critical decisions about the use of this money,” stated the attorney general. “We envisioned and developed a State plan long before there was any funding to make it a reality, and I am pleased that we can finally put our plan to good use.”
Marshall concluded, “Having encountered the utter darkness of the opioid crisis at my own doorstep, this is one of my most meaningful accomplishments as your Attorney General.”
In October 2021, the state’s specialty courts were awarded $1.5 million from a settlement reached with corporate consulting behemoth McKinsey and Company due to its alleged role in advising Purdue Pharma in the drug maker’s scheme to unlawfully mass market Oxycontin.
The State of Alabama presently has claims against opioid manufacturers Purdue Pharma, Mallinckrodt and Insys as part of the companies’ bankruptcy cases.
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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