Terms of opioid settlement approved

Pact with state would fund treating and preventing opioid abuse

Madison Township has become part of an agreement that is aiming to distribute opioid litigation settlement funds to local governments in Ohio.

Township trustees, at their Aug. 10 meeting, approved a resolution authorizing the community government’s solicitor, Gary Pasqualone, to act as an official representative in a legal settlement with three major distributors of opioids.

“The state of Ohio has basically negotiated a settlement for all the parties within the state and this (resolution) allows Gary to accept

whatever that agreement is on the township’s behalf,” township Administrator Tim Brown said.

Brown was referring to the OneOhio Subdivision Settlement with McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmeriSourceBergen.

Madison Township trustees earlier had authorized Pasqualone, as their solicitor, to participate in a classaction lawsuit against the three companies, which distribute opioid painkillers.

The distributors were accused of lax controls that allowed massive amounts of addictive opioid painkillers to be diverted into illegal channels, according to

a reuters.com story. This activity occurred during a stretch when the number of addictions and overdose deaths caused by opioids were soaring.

States and local political subdivisions were given the opportunity to participate in the lawsuit. In July, a coalition of private attorneys representing the plaintiffs reached a national settlement agreement with McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmeriSourceBergen.

Under terms of the settlement, the three companies will collectively provide up to $21 billion over 18 years to thousands of communities across the United States.

However, to require the companies to make a full payout, the agreement needs support from at least

48 states, 98 percent of litigating local governments and 97 percent of the jurisdictions that have yet to sue.

Money from the settlement is intended for purposes such as treating opioid addiction and preventing abuse of the potentially deadly drug.

The OneOhio Subdivision Settlement includes a memorandum of understanding to create an effective means of distributing potential settlement funds to the state and local subdivisions.

Steps also would be taken to promote productive and meaningful use of the funds in abating the opioid epidemic throughout Ohio, according to the resolution approved by Madison Township trustees.