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Freeborn County is expected to receive part of a $26 billion multi-state settlement in what the county’s attorney on Tuesday called a “historic resolution” involving the opioid epidemic. 

David Walker during the Tuesday Board of Commissioners meeting said the county retained outside counsel and engaged in the lawsuit with over 3,700 other plaintiffs across the nation in 2017 against opioid manufacturers and distributors, and a settlement is before these entities across the country now involving four of the total 22 defendants who were a part of the lawsuit. 

The four that are part of the settlement are distributors AmerisourceBergen Corp., McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., and manufacturer Johnson & Johnson. The remaining defendants have not yet settled.

Walker said the settlement went through multi-district litigation at the federal level, and now each state has the option of approving it. The settlement starts out with base payments to each state plus what are being called incentive payments for the municipalities, counties and other local entities that are a part of the suit. In Minnesota, 188 entities were part of the suit. 

Freeborn County could receive up to $770,000 if it meets all of the qualifications, he said, though he noted this number could change depending on future circumstances. Any money received would go into a new separate fund under the supervision of the county and could only be used for approved purposes. 

He said there is a long list of ways the money can be spent, including uses in law enforcement, child and family protection, addiction services, medical and overdose care and overdose prevention. 

“This settlement recognizes that the opioid epidemic has affected communities in many different ways,” he said. 

The first payment could come in 2022. Payments from the distributors would be divided into annual installments over 18 years, while payments from the manufacturer would be paid in nine. 

He said the settlement has been recommended and vetted by the Minnesota attorney general and is recommended by the Association of Minnesota Counties, the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities and the League of Minnesota Cities. 

In addition to the money provided in the settlement, it also requires the distributors to change how they’re operating to protect people. Walker said the distributors were distributing the opiates to hospitals, clinics and doctors and were doing so in a way that they knew or should have known that the drugs were being diverted for unethical and illegal purposes.

“The settlement says there are ways you can prevent this,” Walker said. “You can look for red flags … when you see that you have an obligation to report that.” 

It calls for training people to recognize red flags of possible opioid abuse and to do something about it, he said.

The board voted unanimously to approve the national settlement as well as voting to support an amendment to a state statute regarding how the money will be distributed in Minnesota. Under the amendment, it will be distributed 75% to local governments and 25% to the state. 

The amendment also gives counties more flexibility in how the funds can be spent.

He noted the law firm that represented the county did not charge the county anything when it took on the case and will be paid out of a federal attorney fee fund and another fund being put together by the state. There will be special measures in place to oversee the attorney fee payments. 

Walker said over 5,000 people in the state have died from overdoses and other illnesses related to opioids.