Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Indiana will distribute about $18 million in opioid settlement funds to support local law enforcement, drug task forces and treatment hubs, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced Friday.
The state landed a $507 million settlement as part of a $26 billion multi-state agreement in 2021 with three pharmaceutical distributors — Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen — and Johnson & Johnson, which manufactured and marketed the opioids.
The $18 million distribution represents “just one of the many payments yet to come,” Rokita said in a statement.
The Attorney General’s Office secured participation from all 648 political subdivisions in Indiana, according to the announcement.
Rokita used the initial announcement of the $507 million settlement to take a swipe at private attorneys, accusing them of slowing the buy-in process from local governments by convincing them to pursue their own litigation instead of opting in to the statewide settlement. He reiterated that criticism in Friday’s announcement.
There were at least 1,732 opioid deaths in Indiana in 2022, according to an Indiana Department of Health dashboard. The data is provisional and doesn’t include a count from every county.
“Many Hoosiers have sadly lost their lives or loved ones due to overdoses,” Rokita said in a statement. “In an attempt to make billions of dollars for themselves, they deceptively marketed drugs like OxyContin, which highly contributed to the nationwide opioid epidemic. Considering the damage done to families throughout Indiana, I am relieved to finally see some bit of justice served.”
The settlement will be split evenly between the state and local governments, the announcement said. Thirty percent of funds comes with “no strings attached,” so governments can use the funds as they please. The other 70% is designated for opioid abatement efforts in local communities.
The state previously announced tentative agreements with CVS and Walgreens in 2022 for Indiana to receive $219 million in opioid settlements.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.