Earlier this year, Attorney General Steve Marshall announced a $350 million settlement with a multinational marketing firm, Publicis, for its role in the perpetuation of the opioid crisis. In addition to a $220 million settlement with distributors Cardinal Health and Cencora, who failed to uphold their duty to report overprescribing to the FDA, the State has negotiated over $500 million to resolve claims against the drug manufacturers and other organizations found liable for their conduct and the nuisance it has bred amongst our population.
It is our profound honor and irrevocably heavy responsibility to have had a small part in accomplishing these and other settlements on behalf of our local government.
Our firm, Cusimano, Roberts, Mills & Knowlton, spearheaded by Emily Hawk Mills, in partnership with local governmental entities, assisted in the discovery phase of the litigation and was an integral part of negotiation communications with officials in Etowah, Cherokee, and Chilton Counties, as well as the City of Gadsden and the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office. Attorney Gregory S. Cusimano executed each settlement document for governmental units in Alabama and Mississippi, which we participated in representing.
The Etowah County Commission recently voted to give the District Attorney’s office the County’s share of the settlement funds in a distribution plan that runs through 2029, vowing to put $150,000 annually toward “support for criminal-justice involved persons” who have opioid use disorder or other drug and mental health issues.
Unfortunately, opioid dependency has only become more prevalent since the beginning of this litigation. Statistics from the Alabama Department of Public Health showed 830 and 835 deaths from fentanyl-related overdose in 2021 and 2022, respectively, compared to just 121 and 193 deaths in 2018 and 2019.
In a 2017 press release, BlueCross and BlueShield noted that 16.4 per 1000 of its Alabama members were diagnosed with an opioid use disorder the year prior, which was double the national average.
Opioids are becoming the new cancer: you may not have been affected, but someone close to you (or someone close to them) likely has.
If that’s not a public nuisance, what is?
The path to opioid dependence and misuse is not a straight line, and even as our State and our County benefit from the judicious use of these settlement funds, there will be hurdles to overcome in our path to recovery as individuals and as a community.
At CRM&K, our firm’s intention remains to persist until the race is run. If you or a loved one is on a path that begins to feel too long and needs immediate help, please call or text 988, or visit the Alabama Department of Mental Health for resources in your area.
