(Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
More than 100 local governments in Washington are now eligible to claim their share of $122.2 million in settlements with Purdue Pharma and eight generic opioid manufacturers, the Washington state attorney general’s office said Monday.
The money is part of multistate settlements with Purdue Pharma, Alvogen, Amneal, Apotex, Hikma, Indivior, Mylan, Sun, and Zydus.
The Purdue Pharma settlement was announced on June 16. The other eight settlements were announced July 10.
Signups for local governments to get in on the settlements opened Monday. While there is no deadline to join the $16.7 million settlement with the eight generic opioid manufacturers, the deadline to join the $105.5 million settlement with Purdue Pharma is Sept. 30.
The attorney general’s office encourages local governments to sign up for all nine settlements and complete other related paperwork at the same time.
These settlements will be paid out over 15 years, with much of the funding distributed in the first three years.
If all eligible city and county governments join the settlements, it would raise the total amount of money the attorney general’s office has won from opioid manufacturers to $1.3 billion.
This money is designated for programs that combat the opioid epidemic, support first responders, build treatment clinics, and provide overdose reversal kits.
In 2024, fatal overdoses in Washington totaled 3,137, according to preliminary data released in June by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That marked an 11% decline from the prior year, but the deaths were still 14% higher than in 2022.
The powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl has driven increases in fatal overdoses in recent years.
“Companies made millions while our communities were harmed because of the opioid epidemic,” Attorney General Nick Brown said in a statement on Monday. “These funds can help save lives and support community projects across the state.”
Under the terms of an agreement, city and county governments will collectively receive 50% of Washington’s share of the settlement, and the state government will receive the other 50%.
Of the state’s $61.1 million share, 20% will go to Washington’s tribal communities.
Cities and counties split the money based on a formula developed through the One Washington Memorandum of Understanding, according to the attorney general’s office. Cities are eligible for funds based on their size from 2019 U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
A total of 129 local governments in Washington are eligible for settlement funding. If all of them sign up for the nine settlements, each local government would receive between $18,300 and $840,000.
As with the prior opioid settlements, the new amounts are contingent on eligible cities and counties in Washington state joining. If not enough cities and counties join, the settlement is void, according to the Brown’s office.
“For every other prior opioid settlement, 100% of eligible counties and cities in Washington have joined, and we’re hopeful the same thing will happen this time,” said Ashley Goss, spokesperson for the attorney general’s Office.
Lower participation by local governments reduces the portion the state receives, according to Goss.
The Attorney General’s Office is maintaining a tracker showing the status of eligible governments’ signup forms. The tracker will be updated every few weeks initially and then more often as the Sept. 30 deadline nears.
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