06. Opioid Litigation Settlement payment

Additional Settlements: Additional settlements are likely and will involve different defendants, amounts, payment schedules and perhaps different fund administers. Additional settlements are anticipated involving Purdue Pharma, Allergan Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Walgreens (pharmacy), Walmart (pharmacy) and CVS (pharmacy). Use of Settlement Funds: Settlement funds must be used for opioid addiction mitigation efforts and recipients must set up a committee and develop a plan to utilize settlement proceeds. There is no deadline to set the committee or form the plan. Opioid committees are often 2-3 individuals, but that does not appear to be a requirement. Joint Use of Funds: One of the questions on August 1st was if multiple recipient organizations could form a joint committee and jointly allocate funds. Direction from our litigation counsel is that nothing in the settlement agreement that prevents recipients from partnering with other recipients to coordinate the use of funds. Payments made in 2022 will be made to individual entities, but it appears payments could be made jointly in future years. General Settlement Terms: In accordance with the settlements negotiated with Attorneys General across the country, the distribution of funds between state and local governments varies widely from state to state. In North Dakota, all of the settlement terms described above apply to the 15% of the total award going to local governments. An additional 15% is distributed directly to state government. The remaining 70% is directed to an Abatement Fund. North Dakota Abatement Fund: Our litigation counsel has advised that portions of the Abatement Fund must be directed to various regions of the state. Per the terms of the settlement agreement a committee must also be formed to identify uses of the Abatement Fund. Cass County has been encouraged to work closely with our Attorney General’s Office and the State Legislature to understand and be involved in the committee make-up and prioritization of Abatement Fund resources. This year the North Dakota Abatement Fund will receive $2,062,524.90 from this settlement. Over the course of the settlement payout, it appears this fund will receive $15,468,936.75. SUGGESTED MOTION: To create an ‘Opioid Abatement Fund’ to receive the initial and future settlement payments, and designate County Administrator, Robert Wilson as the ‘Authorized Official’ to register Cass County with the National Opioids Settlements Portal.