State Attorney General Letitia James secured a $523 million settlement with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries last year after the company was found liable for public nuisance charges.

County Attorney Pat Slagle said New York is receiving an additional $211 million from a $4.3 billion national settlement Teva agreed to in July. He said that carve out had to be approved by local governments by February 1.

Slagle said payments will be received in $50,000 increments over a 13 year period. $374,249 of the funds are unrestricted with $583,555 being designated for treating opioid use disorders, supporting people in treatment and recovery, and other efforts related to the opioid crisis.

Letitia James

CVS and Walgreens have agreed to pay state and local governments a combined total of $10.7 billion to settle lawsuits over the toll of opioids.

New York Attorney General Letitia James co-led a coalition of attorneys general in negotiating the settlement.

The Walgreens payments could total up to $5.52 billion over 15 years. The CVS payments could reach $4.9 billion over 10 years. Additionally, the companies have announced tentative payments to Native American tribes totaling more than $250 million.

Like other opioid settlements, the agreements call for governments that receive money to use it to fight the drug crisis.

Under the deals, about $1.2 billion would be set aside for lawyers’ fees and legal expenses.

The companies also have agreed to monitor, report and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions.

Under the separate deals, states have until December 31 to agree to drop claims over opioids against Walgreens and CVS to receive the maximum payouts.

If there aren’t enough states participating, the companies can back out.

If there is sufficient sign-on from states, local governments can also sign on to get shares.

The amount awarded to governments is based on their populations and the severity of the opioid crisis there. States will get bigger amounts if more of their local governments agree.

The legislature also will vote to accept $996,000 in settlement monies from Johnson & Johnson. The State Attorney General’s Office approved the settlement with Johnson & Johnson as part of the litigation regarding the opioid addiction crisis.

The county will receive the settlement over a 10 year period, the same period of time that Johnson & Johnson will agree to cease the manufacture, sale, and promotion of opioids and opioid products in New York State.

The settlement restricts 79% of the settlement toward approved uses such as treating opioid use disorder; supporting people in treatment and recovery; addressing the needs of criminal-justice involved persons; and supporting law enforcement and first responders.

Other grant monies the legislature will consider include $25,000 in Safe Summer 2021 Funding from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. The money is to be used to support positive youth development activities for youth at risk of being perpetrators and victims of gun violence in high gun violence neighborhoods and census tracts throughout the state.

The Legislature also will vote on using $90,000 of American Rescue Plan funds, split evenly between the Dunkirk and Jamestown airport. The monies will go toward costs related to operations, personnel, cleaning, sanitization, janitorial services, and combating the spread of pathogens at the airport.

On Monday Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the New York Sate Department of Financial Services is taking action against opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacy benefit managers to secure $2 billion for New York consumers who have shouldered the cost of the ongoing opioid epidemic in the form of higher insurance premiums.

The governor said the drug companies knew what they were doing, calling it an industry-wide conspiracy that is as diabolical, as brazen, as obnoxious and as offensive as anything he’s ever seen.

DFS has determined that New York consumers have overpaid an estimated $2 billion in insurance premiums over the past 10 years.
It says the over-payment is due to the costs associated with opioid manufacturers misrepresenting the safety and efficacy of opioids – which in turn has resulted in the over-prescription of opioids, additional addiction treatment and treatment of other adverse health effects associated with opioid addiction.

DFS will seek fines and restitution from the opioid industry and will also be holding hearings across the state to expose the problem to consumers and generate transparency with respect to the impact on the health insurance system.

Letitia James

ALBANY – New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday that her office has filed the nation’s most extensive lawsuit against the makers and distributors of opioids, as well as the family behind Purdue Pharma, a firm that many hold responsible for America’s worsening opioid epidemic.

The 258-page complaint, which amends an earlier lawsuit filed last August by the state against Purdue, follows a multi-year, industry-wide investigation by the attorney general’s office and is unique among the wave of opioid litigation coming out of municipalities and states in recent years.

It’s one of just a handful of lawsuits to specifically name the Sackler family, who made billions from the sale of extended-release OxyContin and other opioids manufactured by Purdue. It’s also notable for the extensive allegations it lays out against opioid distributors, who have received far less attention for their supposed role in the epidemic than manufacturers have.

The legislature voted 19-0 Wednesday night in favor of the resolution, which would allow the county to sign on with a group of other counties in New York State that want to sue pharmaceutical companies and recoup money and resources that have been dedicated to the fight against opioid addiction.

Chautauqua county executive Vince Horrigan said the lawsuit would be similar to the one that previously took place against big tobacco.

“We know what the opioid crisis has done and we know, in so many ways, prescription drugs is where it started. I like this to the tobacco settlement. You look at the magnitude of health issues that tobacco has caused and over time there was a massive settlement. We built the new jail with some of the proceeds,” Horrigan said following Wednesday’s meeting. “I believe firmly that down the road when more comes out of this there were will be some type of settlement and I want to recoup some of the costs that the county is experiencing.”

As part of the resolution, Horrigan said the county will be working with a law firm that is also working with other counties to prepare a case against the drug companies.

“It’s all contingency. It won’t cost us anything unless there is a settlement. Our county attorney is looking at one he thought was the best, most efficient way to go so we’ll be joining with them,” Horrigan said. “Right now New York State has not joined with this, but Ohio and other states have and I think there are 11 or 12 counties in New York State have now joined.”

Opioid overdoses have seen a sharp increase in recent years, with many of those overdoses the result of people using heroin and other drugs laced with fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. Some reports claim that a portion of those battling addiction first become addicted to opioids through prescription drugs, which some drug manufacturers pushed on physicians treating patients dealing with pain.

• VIEW FULL AGENDA

Among the items to be considered by the legislature is a resolution that would allow the county to sue pharmaceutical companies, claiming that their effort to push for the over prescription of opioid medications has led to the current drug and opioid epidemic.

The resolution, entitled “Authorize Litigation Against Major Drug Manufacturers to Recover Current and Future Damages to the County from Abuse of Opioid Pharmaceuticals,” would be similar to the past litigation effort filed against the tobacco industry. According to the language of the resolution, the county is joining other counties in the state in seeking to “recover damages from those parties directly contributing to high costs to the taxpayers in the form of increased social services, policing, and other expenditures, so as to mitigate the impact of same.”

Also on Wednesday, Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan is scheduled to give a presentation on the county’s Shared Services Plan, which is currently in the running for a $20 million grant from the state.

And the legislature will say goodbye to legislator Mark Tarbrake (R-Jamestown, District 14), who is moving out of his district and as a result has to step down form the panel. The seat will likely remain open until a new legislator is selected in the November election.  Only one candidate will appear on the ballot for that seat – Dan Pavlock (R-Charlotte).

Wednesday’s meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. and in the legislative chambers in Mayville and is open to the public.