- The Mississippi Attorney General says the state has now secured more than $400 million in opioid settlement funds.
After a decade of efforts by attorneys general across the nation, the $7.4 billion opioid settlement with Purdue Pharma was deemed legally effective earlier this month.
Of that total, Mississippi is anticipated to receive about $40.9 million. Combined with previous settlements, the state has now secured more than $400 million in opioid settlement funds, according to the office of Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R).
Fitch announced the news on Friday, stating that the owners of Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family, are included in the settlement. She said Mississippi sued the company back in December 2015, with an investigation by all attorneys general nationwide following shortly thereafter. Purdue filed for bankruptcy four years later in 2019.
The settlement is part of a larger settlement with other opioid distributors, including Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen. The settlement also included pharmacies under the CVS, Walmart and Walgreens brands, along with leading opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson.
Opioid abuse, the Mississippi AG said, has resulted in the death of many Mississippians and Americans.
“The opioid epidemic has claimed far too many lives in Mississippi, leaving behind lasting pain,” said Attorney General Fitch. “This settlement is another step toward holding accountable those who played a role in this epidemic and toward healing for many Mississippians who lost loved ones. Together, we can address the harm already done and prevent more senseless deaths.”
The funds are intended to help communities across the state and nation as they seek to curb future abuse of the addictive drugs.
Even though Purdue filed for bankruptcy in response to the lawsuit, the Sackler family is indefinitely barred from manufacturing opioids in the future as part of the settlement. Now, operation of Purdue manufacturing processes transfer to Knoa Pharma LLC. Future operations of Knoa will be managed by a board of directors that will be mandated to have no ties with Purdue. Additionally, Knoa will be unable to market the use of opioids, which was part of the reason Purdue was found liable in the settlement.
The State of Mississippi is still in the process of distributing previous opioid settlements. Three line items in a funding bill were blocked by Governor Tate Reeves (R) as part of his partial veto of HB 1924 earlier this year. That partial veto stopped payments to three organizations totaling about $1.5 million.
The Mississippi House attempted to override the governor’s veto during a day-long final session held on April 15, but the Senate failed to bring the matter up in the chamber for a vote, allowing Reeves’ veto to stand.
Jeremy Pittari
