Queen Creek has joined several other cities and towns across the state in signing onto a memorandum of understanding related to a massive opioid industry class-action settlement.
The town council voted 5-2 in favor of signing the memorandum. This will give Queen Creek the ability to accept a settlement offer if one is made. Currently, a proposed $26 billion nationwide settlement with opioid distributors McKesson, Amerisource Bergen and Cardinal Health and manufacturer Johnson & Johnson apparently is close to finalization with states attorney generals.
“The One Arizona Plan memorandum of understanding relates to the opioid crisis that's been devastating the nation for a number of years,” said Town Attorney Scott Holcomb. “As you know there's litigation by many government entities — states, counties, municipalities across the nation. The state of Arizona and all 15 counties in the state have already executed a memorandum of understanding. The purpose of that memorandum of understanding is to facilitate cooperative negotiation and settlement of opioid litigation as it comes about.”
Mr. Holcomb emphasized the memorandum is nonbinding and is not a settlement agreement, but rather an understanding between those parties involved as to how settlement negotiations will be handled and how proceeds from those settlements will be allocated.
The Arizona Attorney General has set a 5 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 15, deadline to receive signatures from each municipality.
One of the two council members who voted against the signing the memorandum, Jake Hoffman, called such lawsuits “free market killers.”
“There are certain industries that it's easy to attack and it's easy for people to do class-action lawsuits and for states and AGs to pile on,” he said. “But the reality is that this is what drives up the cost of health care. Stuff like this drives up the cost of health care.”
He added those most in need during this opioid epidemic would suffer the most.
The settlement would in relation to states, counties and cities suiing the drugmakers, who they accuse deceptively marketed prescription opioids and didn't understand or relate to the public they were addictive and responsible for 450,000 deaths in the U.S. between 1999 and 2018. The drugmakers have denied they did anything wrong.
The memorandum outlines how any settlement would be distributed. The state would receive 44% and participating local governments would receive 56%. How much each county or city is awarded is based on a regional allocation model. The model uses three equally weighted factors:
The number of opioids shipped to the city or county;
The number of opioid deaths that occurred in the city or country;
The number of people who suffer opioid use disorder in an area.
Signing the memorandum does not cost Queen Creek anything. However, not signing it would cost the town money to deal with the opioid crisis. Under the model, Queen Creek could receive 0.11% of any settlement.
According to the One Arizona Plan, the state “will endeavor to prioritize up to 30% of the state share for opioid education and advertising related to awareness, addiction, or treatment; Department of Corrections and related prison and jail opioid uses, and opioid interdiction and abatement on Arizona’s southern border, including grants to assist with the building, remodeling and/or operation of centers for treatment, drug testing, medication-assisted treatment services, probation, job training, and/or counseling services, among other programs.”
The four defendants featured in this settlement aren't the only ones who have been hit by lawsuits and settlements. OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma reached a deal with the Department of Justice to pay a more than $8 billion settlement to the federal government and pleaded guilty to three felony counts of criminal wrongdoing, including enabling the supply of opioids “without legitimate medical purpose.” The company is still facing lawsuits from cities and states.
Chandler manufacturer Insys Therapeutics filed for federal bankruptcy protection after and eventually shuttered after it agreed to pay $225 million that came amid allegations of bribery and racketering in a federal trial. Several of that company's executives were found guilty of criminal charges in marketing its Subsys drug and sentenced to prison.
If the proposed $26 billion settlement with distributors McKesson, Amerisource Bergen and Cardinal Health, as well as manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, is accepted by the courts, it will close the book on any future litigation from cities and states.
That money also is expected to help alleviate the nation’s opioid epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 232,000 Americans have died from prescription opioids between 1999 and 2018.
Janet Perez News Editor | Queen Creek &
San Tan Valley @AzNewsmedia
Meet Janet Janet Perez joined Independent Newsmedia as editor of the Queen Creek Independent and Florence Independent in 2020. She started her career in 1989 with the Gannett-owned El Paso Times. In 1992, she moved to Tempe and has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. She left Arizona for three years to work at New Mexico State University and Baylor University before returning to work at Arizona State University. Missing the business, she went back to journalism in 2017.
Community: A long-time pet owner, she supports animal welfare causes.
Education: University of Texas at El Paso with a BA in journalism and a minor in political science.
Random Fact: She had a head full of random facts.
Hobbies: Reading, watching documentaries, cooking and playing with her dogs.
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