West Virginia communities were delighted when the state and local governments announced that they had reached a $1.25billion opioid settlement with drug companies. The deal would end most of the litigation stemming from the rampant opioid crisis in the state.
The announcement was made in March 2020, and a payment structure and schedule has already been agreed upon.
The opioid crisis in West Virginia has been linked to over 500,000 deaths across the country since the late 1990s. The $1.25billion settlement deal was crafted in Charleston and involved over 250 attorneys, drug manufacturers, and distributors.
The agreement seeks to provide funds to the state, local governments, hospitals, and other public entities impacted by the crisis.
Paul Farrell, the lead attorney in the deal, said that the drug manufacturers and distributors involved in the litigation would agree on how much each would pay while the government officials in West Virginia would determine how the money would be shared among the state, local governments, hospitals, and other public entities.
A panel of judges would be tasked with coming up with a fair sharing formula if there will be disagreements in the sharing process. Also, the opioid attorney fees will not be deducted out of the $1.25billion settlement amount.
Instead, there will be an extra amount set by the West Virginia Mass Litigation Panel (WVMLP) to pay the lawyers. The panel is made up of highly experienced judges.
Exclusions
The $1.25billion deal doesn’t include two key players in the opioid crisis, Mallinckrodt and Purdue Pharma, because the two drug manufacturers want to settle their opioid liabilities through a bankruptcy court.
The deal doesn’t also include West Virginia state attorney’s claim against other drug manufacturers that fueled the opioid crisis in the state.
When announcing the settlement deal, Farrell said that the state had decided to seek its own deal with drug companies because it wouldn’t get anything out of the $18billion settlement under consideration with the three leading drug distribution companies, namely Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen.
The state of West Virginia has already reached a settlement deal with three companies over the past three years, amounting to a total of $63million. It also reached a settlement deal with a group of smaller drug wholesalers in 2016 for approximately $11million.
This deal is poised to become the first statewide prescription opioid settlement deal with drug companies cutting across all parts of the drug industry, right from manufacturers to wholesalers. It is also good to mention that West Virginia has recorded the highest number of opioid overdose related deaths.
$10 Million Settlement with Opioid Marketer
The opioid settlement deals in West Virginia didn’t end with the $1.25billion settlement. In February 2021, the Attorney General’s office reached a $10million settlement with a consulting firm it blames for having designed strategic marketing plans and programs that helped to fuel the opioid crisis in the state.
The settlement was reached to resolve allegations that leading drug manufacturers paid McKinsey & Company Inc millions of dollars to promote the sale of opioid painkillers in the state.
Most notably is the company’s 15-year relationship with the leading drug manufacturer, Purdue Pharma. The firm is accused of promoting OxyContin’s sale even when the opioid epidemic had hit its peak.
The Attorney General’s office further alleges that McKinsey mainly targeted relatively high-volume prescribers and involved itself in numerous conflicts of interest by consulting with non-profit organizations and government agencies on how to end an opioid crisis it helped to create, all while still working for the drug manufacturers.
The attorney general argued that the efforts and strategies of such companies value profits more than human life, and anyone responsible must be held accountable.
He urged local governments, hospitals, and other public entities to use the compensation monies to solve the root causes of opioid misuse and develop long-term strategies to help citizens and communities acknowledge the road to recovery.
The settlement deal requires McKinsey to pay the $10million to the state and stop doing any business related to opioids with immediate effect.
It also compels the firm to develop a comprehensive records retention system after it was alleged that some of its employees were considering destroying records related to the company’s cooperation with Purdue Pharma.
The $10million settlement deal was handled by the office of the attorney general, meaning no portion of it will go towards paying the law firms involved in the case. This will ensure that the entire amount is directed to its intended purpose of remediating the opioid crisis in the state.
Join an Opioid Lawsuit Today!
Have you or someone you love been affected by the opioid crisis? Have you lost your loved one to a prescription opioid overdose? If so, you may be entitled to compensation. Talk to an experienced opioid lawsuit attorney who will evaluate your case and advise you accordingly.
