Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson announced Friday the final approval of the $26 billion opioid agreement with the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors, Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen and drug maker Johnson & Johnson. Money is anticipated to start flowing to state and local governments in July 2022.
“The Nebraska Coalition to End Opioid Misuse has been working and are actively preparing to provide these settlement funds to be used to bring treatment to those suffering from opioid addiction, funds intended to be used to bring healing and hope,” Peterson says.
The agreement marks the culmination of three years of negotiations to resolve more than 4,000 claims of state and local governments across the country. It is the second largest multistate agreement in U.S. history, second only to the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.
Fifty-two states and territories have signed on to the agreement as well as thousands of local governments across the country. In Nebraska all 93 counties as well as 16 municipalities have signed on to these two agreements. As a result, Nebraska will receive it’s full share of over $100 million over 18 years. Per the terms of these agreements, eighty-five percent of these funds will go to the Nebraska Opioid Recovery Fund. The remaining fifteen percent will be sent by the National Administrator to the 93 counties and 16 municipalities that signed on to these agreements.
All of the money from these settlements will be used for treatment, prevention, and other strategies to abate opioid use disorder and any co-occurring substance use disorder or mental health conditions throughout Nebraska.