County to pursue opioid settlement funds

Union County Board of Supervisors approved Monday to submit a claim for some of the billions of dollars in a settlement the federal government reached with makers of opioids, the pain-killing, prescription drug.

Union County Attorney Shane O’Toole said the state of Iowa reached an agreement with the settlement allowing municipalities to request for settlement funds. O’Toole said local government entities greater than 10,000 residents are eligible to apply.

According to the Associated Press, the three drug distributors — AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson — and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson agreed in July to pay the combined $26 billion to resolve thousands of state and local government lawsuits. But if the defendants feel there’s a lack of participation by states and local jurisdictions, it could cause them to back away from the landmark agreement or eventually reduce the settlement amount.

The $26 billion from three drug distributors and a pharmaceutical manufacturer would address damage wrought by opioids, which the federal government declared in 2017 was a public health emergency.

In exchange for the payout, participating states, counties and cities would have to drop any lawsuits against the defendants and agree not to sue them in the future for the opioid epidemic.

At least 45 states have signed on or signaled their intent to do so, and at least 4,012 counties and cities have also confirmed participation, plaintiffs’ attorneys said.

“I can’t tell you how much,” O’Toole said about how much Union County could receive from the settlement. He added funds must be used for education, prevention and or treatment of opioid addiction. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Iowa had 352 opioid overdose deaths in 2019.

O’Toole said the county can decide not to accept the funds when it knows how much is offered.

In other supervisor news...

Supervisors approved the lease bid of $20,000 from Mike Tamerius for the county’s agriculture land. Tamerius acquired the land at auction Dec. 10. The lease is for one year. Supervisor Ron Riley said Union County Conservation may be interested in using the property in the future. Supervisors will consider the option of continuing to lease the property, depending upon conservation board’s plans.

Union County had 37 new COVID cases last week. The county’s positivity rate is 10%. The county’s vaccination rate is 48%.