In this September 2019 Empire file photo, prescriptions drugs, vitamins, hormones, and other drugs left in the drug drop box in the lobby of the Juneau Police Department are displayed. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file)

In this September 2019 Empire file photo, prescriptions drugs, vitamins, hormones, and other drugs left in the drug drop box in the lobby of the Juneau Police Department are displayed. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file)

Alaska to receive $58M in opioid settlement

Pharmaceutical companies settle for $26 billion nationwide

A settlement with opioid manufacturers has awarded the state of Alaska $58 million, the Department of Law announced Tuesday, as part of one of the largest settlements in U.S. legal history.

According to Department of Law, 15% of the $58 million — roughly $8.7 million — will go to the nine political subdivisions in Alaska that participated in the lawsuit. The remaining funds will be used by the state to help Alaskans recover from opioid addiction, the release said.

“All of us know someone who suffered from opioid addiction, and this crisis has taken its toll on our communities,” said Attorney General Taylor in a statement. “This agreement sends a message to the companies that would put profits ahead of people.”

The governor’s Advisory Council on Opioid Remediation established last year will make recommendations on how to spend the money in a report due Dec. 1, the release said. That council is made up of nine voting members and four non-voting members from the Alaska State Legislature.

According to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office, the members of the board are Public Health Director Heidi Hedberg; Department of Revenue Commissioner Brian Fechter; Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority Chair Anita Halterman; Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Treasurer Diana Zirul; Daniel Grimes of Soldotna; Kolboy Hickel of Anchorage; Richard Simmons of Bethel; Glenn Steckman of Nome and Bryce Ward of Fairbanks.

[Permanent Fund to hold Russian assets as lawmakers urge divestment]

Non-voting members from the Legislature are Sens. David Wilson, R-Wasilla, and Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, D-Anchorage, and Reps. Liz Snyder, D-Anchorage, and Ken McCarty, R-Eagle River.

According to the agreement the nine entities within Alaska that participated in the suit and will receive their own payment are the Municipality of Anchorage; the City of Fairbanks; the Fairbanks North Star Borough; the City and Borough of Juneau; Kenai Peninsula Borough; Ketchikan Gateway Borough; Kodiak Island Borough; the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and the City of Wasilla.

According to a draft copy of the settlement, Juneau will receive roughly 5.2% of the $8.7 million, approximately $450,000.

The settlement was part of a larger $26 billion settlement between pharmaceutical companies Cardinal, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Johnson & Johnson, who together faced more than 4,000 lawsuits in state and federal courts, according to the Departmet of Law. The companies will begin releasing funds to a national administrator on April 2, according to the Department of Law, and money will start going to states in July.

Funds going to the state will ultimately have to be appropriated by the Legislature, according to DOL communications director Aaron Sadler, but will have to go toward opioid remediation per the settlement agreement.

In 2017 the governor’s office issued a disaster declaration for the opioid epidemic following a rise in opioid-related overdoses and deaths.

Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson announced the settlement plan last year. However, as part of the settlement, the companies have admitted no wrongdoing. Opioid manufacturers —namely Purdue Pharma — have been accused of misleading the public about the dangers of opioid painkillers and aggressively pushing sales of the drugs.

Page 145 of Final-Distributor-Settlement-Agreement-12.23.21_Exhibit-Updates

Contributed to DocumentCloud by Peter Segall (Juneau Empire) • View document or read text

• Contact reporter Peter Segall at psegall@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SegallJnuEmpire.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of Nov. 17

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree reaches Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 20, to much celebration. (U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree photo)
Santa’s truck-driving helpers are east bound and down to Washington, DC

U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree completes multiweek cross-country journey from Wrangell.

The Palmer project would sit in the watershed of the Chilkat River, pictured here. (Scott McMurren/Flickr under Creative Commons license 2.0)
Japanese smelting giant pulls out of major Southeast Alaska mining project

Palmer development, above the salmon-bearing Chilkat River, has for years fueled political divisions.

Juneau Police Department cars are parked outside the downtown branch station on Thursday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
JPD’s daily incident reports getting thinner and vaguer. Why and does it matter?

Average of 5.12 daily incidents in October down from 10.74 a decade ago; details also far fewer.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, Nov. 18, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

The Douglas Island Breeze In on Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
New owner seeks to transfer Douglas Island Breeze In’s retail alcohol license to Foodland IGA

Transfer would allow company to take over space next to supermarket occupied by Kenny’s Liquor Market.

A butter clam. Butter clams are found from the Aleutian Islands to the California coast. They are known to retain algal toxins longer than other species of shellfish. (Photo provided by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife)
Among butter clams, which pose toxin dangers to Alaska harvesters, size matters, study indicates

Higher concentrations found in bigger specimens, UAS researchers find of clams on beaches near Juneau.

Most Read