CLAYTON — At its March 16 meeting Clayton city council passed Resolution R – 03 – 23 – 28 to authorize the city’s participation in new national opioid settlement.
The new settlement proposal is being presented by Teva, Allergan, CVS, Walgreens and Walmart to resolve governmental entity claims in the state using the structure of the ‘OneOhio Memorandum of Understanding’ related to the allocation and use of potential opioid settlements.
An additional purpose of the OneOhio MOU is to create an effective means of distributing any potential settlement funds obtained under the MOU between the state and local governments.
The funds would be utilized to help abate the opioid epidemic in Ohio as well as permit collaboration and to explore ways to implement a previous resolution of opioid litigation against opioid pharmaceutical supply chain participants.
Last year the city passed legislation to authorize its participation in a national settlement with distributors such as Johnson and Johnson.
“This is similar to that, in that this is another national opioid settlement,” said Martina Dillon, city law director. “Instead of the distributors, this time it is with the pharmacies such as Walgreens, CVS, etc.”
Any funds secured would be distributed via the OneOhio MOU that was previously authorized.
“I did speak to an attorney with Ohio Attorney General’s office and it was indicated that similar to that previous settlement, the higher the participation the higher the payout,” Dillon said. “I am basically recommending that we authorize the city manager to enter into this settlement with the pharmacies.”
Mayor Mike Stevens asked if the money received from the settlement would be placed into the city’s general fund or if it is “spending specific.”
Dillon stated that a specific fund would have to be established, which has already been put in place by city Director of Finance Kevin Schweitzer. Pursuant to the OneOhio MOU, jurisdictions must use any of the funds received for specific opioid remediation expenses.
Council approved the resolution by unanimous vote.
In 2017, as Ohio Attorney General, Mike DeWine was one of the first in the nation to sue opioid makers and drug distributors for their role in flooding the market with massive amounts of highly addictive opioids.
In July 2022 the first round of settlements saw Clayton receive $3,242. Governor DeWine said the first round of payments distributed among all jurisdictions in Ohio totaled more than $8.6 million. Local governments will continue receiving payments from the settlement for the next 18 years.
This year Clayton received $3,407. Those payments will vary from year over the course of the 18 year payout, which began in 2022.
Local governments must use OneOhio funds consistent with approved Ohio Abatement Strategies. Additional funding for the benefit of all communities in Ohio will be available through the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, which is divided into 19 regions and is designed to allow communities to take a regional approach to abating the opioid epidemic.
Reach Ron Nunnari at (937) 684-9124 or email [email protected].
