LAWTON — Comanche County could receive about $3.66 million under settlement agreements with the defendants in federal lawsuits against the makers and sellers of opioid prescription drugs.
The Board of Comanche County Commissioners voted 3-0 March 13 to participate in national settlement agreements with the pharmacy chains Walmart, Walgreens and CVS, as well as drug manufacturers Teva and Allergan. The five companies were defendants in federal lawsuits alleging that they played key roles in the opioid crisis.
The settlement agreements were announced in late 2022, and the defendants confirmed in January of this year that enough states were willing to participate in the settlements for them to move forward.
The 2022 settlements were the second round in a series of settlement agreements with pharmacy chains and manufacturers, according to the website nationalopioidsettlement.com. The website is managed by the National Prescription Opiate Litigation Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee’s negotiation team.
The first round of settlements resolved lawsuits against pharmaceutical distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, as well as drug manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its parent company, Johnson & Johnson.
States and local units of governments were allowed to join the first round of settlements, which was announced in 2021, according to the website. Those settlements have been finalized, and payments to participating governments have already begun.
The distributors will pay up to $21 billion altogether over 18 years, and Johnson & Johnson will pay an additional $9 billion over nine years, according to the website.
Comanche County’s share of funds from the earlier settlements should have started flowing into the county’s coffers, attorney Matt Sill with the Oklahoma City-based law firm Fulmer Sill said Monday. He added that the county may also participate in the 2022 settlements.
“I do think it’s good news,” he said. “We need the other cities and counties to also go along with it.”
Sill said his firm recently reached an agreement with the state of Oklahoma concerning the 2022 settlements, which will benefit cities and counties more than the 2021 agreement did.
“Last time, 25% of all the funds were going to the litigating counties and cities,” he said. “Now, it’s 75% of the funds are going to the litigating cities and counties.”
The remaining 25% will go into an abatement fund, which will finance programs to address the opioid crisis.
Oklahoma is expected to recover $226.1 million altogether from the new settlements, then-Attorney General John O’Connor said in a Jan. 4 news release announcing the settlements. That amount included up to $79.5 million from Walgreens, $73 million from CVS, $41 million from Walmart and $32.6 million from Allergan.
Allergan sold its generic portfolio of drugs, including opioid products, to Teva in 2016, according to the news release. The state reached an $85 million settlement with Teva in 2019.
Sill said Monday that all cities and counties must agree to the proposed settlements in order to reach the maximum possible amounts. He added that the funds will be distributed to participants, including Comanche County, over the next several years.
“Assuming that we can reach our goal by April 18, it looks like the Walgreens settlement will be $1, 206,375,” he said. “CVS: $1,104,454. Walmart: $628,246. Allergan: $499,662. And Teva: $222,829.”
The county could also receive another $3.5 million in payouts from the 2021 settlements, Sill said.