Maryland has been awarded $24 million in a massive settlement with four pharmaceutical companies that have faced a slew of lawsuits over their involvement in the deadly opioid epidemic.
The Maryland Attorney General announced the payment, which is part of the payment in 2023. In total, Maryland and its local jurisdictions will receive approximately $400 million over 18 years under the settlement, which last year ended a lawsuit against drug distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and Amerisource Bergen, and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson.
To date, Maryland and its subdivisions have received more than $84 million to alleviate the harms of the opioid crisis. Drug companies have faced a wave of lawsuits across the country over allegations they illegally marketed and distributed opioids and ignored warning signs that the drugs were contributing to drug abuse that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. Most states and local governments have sued the companies that agreed to a $26 billion settlement reached in February 2022.
Money is now flowing into these regulators. According to the Maryland Attorney General's Office, the subdivisions will receive more than $13.6 million from the 2023 settlement, including $4.8 million in direct payments and $8.8 million in reduced grants.
The remaining $10 million in the final $24 million payment will go to the state Substance Compensation Fund for substance-related reduction programs.
The attorney general said in a statement that drug addiction is the source of so much pain and devastation in our communities, tearing families apart and leaving a trail of suffering. This ongoing stream of payments from these pain-causing people will help defuse the opioid crisis and bring relief to communities across Maryland.
The full list of subdivisions that have entered into the settlement and are expected to receive funds is available on the Attorney General's Office website.
Large, densely populated jurisdictions will receive substantial sums. For example, Baltimore County will receive a total of $2.8 million in 2023, split between direct funding and grants.
Notably, the city of Baltimore was not among the subdivisions participating in the settlement. According to the filing, the city of Baltimore decided last year to drop the settlement in the hope of winning a larger sum by pursuing the lawsuit on its own.
The loss of one of the largest and most populous jurisdictions in Maryland means that the overall financial settlement coming to Maryland will be smaller. The settlement is partly based on the number of jurisdictions that agree to participate, as drug companies want to get rid of as many lawsuits as possible for money.
