National Opioid Settlement Funds
In 2021, nationwide settlements were reached to resolve all opioids litigation brought by states and local political subdivisions against the three largest pharmaceutical distributors, McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen (“Distributors”) and against manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its parent company Johnson & Johnson (collectively, “J&J”). These National Settlements have been finalized, and payments have already begun. In all, the Distributors will pay up to $21 billion over 18 years, and J&J will pay up to an additional $5 billion over no more than nine years.
In late 2022, agreements were announced with three pharmacy chains—CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart—and two additional manufacturers—Allergan and Teva. In January 2023, each of those pharmacy chains and manufacturers confirmed that a sufficient number of states had agreed to the settlements to move forward. The 2022 National Settlements have now all been finalized.1
View a detailed breakdown of the allocations and projected calculations for the Town of Essex and other subdivisions of the State of Vermont (National Opioids Settlement website)
April 11, 2024 - Memo to Selectboard re: Discussion of Funding from National Opioid Settlements
1Statements from nationalopioidsettlement.com