Cherokee opioid lawsuit settled
Tribe to get $75M from 3 distributors
The Cherokee Nation will receive more than $75 million from three drug distributors to settle claims that the companies fueled an opioid crisis on the tribe’s reservation in northeast Oklahoma.
The settlement, announced Tuesday, is the largest ever received by the Cherokee Nation, which in 2017 became the first tribe to sue pharmacies and distributors for supplying the opioid epidemic.
The settlement will be paid out within seven years. The exact terms have not been disclosed.
In a statement, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said he and other Cherokee leaders would use the money to address an addiction crisis that “has disproportionately and negatively affected many of our citi
zens.” The tribe is the second largest in the U.S., with about 390,000 citizens. About one-third live within 14 counties of northeast Oklahoma.
“This settlement will enable us to increase our investments in mental health treatment facilities and other programs to help our people recover,” Hoskin said.
The distributors that signed on to the settlement are AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson. All are publicly traded companies and face a litany of opioid lawsuits. The three firms announced earlier in September that most states had opted into a massive proposed settlement that is still being worked out. The companies did not disclose whether Oklahoma, which sued in 2020, was among those states.
The distributors are also facing active lawsuits filed by several other tribes. In a joint statement, the distributors said they hope the $75 million agreement with the Cherokee Nation will “support efforts to achieve a broad resolution with the remaining Native American tribes.”
Attorneys for both sides in the Cherokee suit filed documents in federal court Tuesday stating they agreed to dismiss the case. The distributors continue to deny any wrongdoing.
The Cherokee lawsuit contended the drug companies funneled a flood of prescription painkillers into northeast Oklahoma, causing overdose deaths to double between 2003 and 2014. Cherokee child welfare workers also saw a steady increase of parents addicted to prescription opioids, marketed under brand names such as Vicodin, OxyContin and Percocet.
“This settlement will help reduce and prevent opioid addiction and its deadly consequences in the Cherokee Nation Reservation,” said Cherokee Attorney General Sara Hill in a statement. “We are grateful that these distributors share our desire to solve the problem. We believe today’s settlement will do more to help solve this problem, and solve it sooner, than continued litigation.”
The tribe’s opioid lawsuit against pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart is ongoing.
Molly Young covers Indigenous affairs for the USA Today Network’s Sunbelt Region of Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. Reach her at mollyyoung@gannett.com or 405-347-3534.