SALISBURY – Wicomico County will receive a payment of $128,000, in addition to grant funding opportunities, for its participation in a multi-billion-dollar settlement against four national drug companies.
On Tuesday, Andrew Illuminati, attorney for the county’s law firm, met with members of the Wicomico County Council to provide an update on the county’s participation in a $26 billion settlement with drug distributors McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp. and drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson for their alleged roles in the country’s opioid epidemic.
As a result of that settlement, Illuminati noted Wicomico County would be receiving a first-year payment of $128,281, with a potential to receive more in available grant funding.
“The funding should be available by the end of next month …,” he told the council this week. “Once that payment is received, that money needs to be spent on abatement and we have to figure out how broad that definition is.”
In December, the county council voted to opt into a settlement with the major drug companies. Specifically, the settlement resolved allegations that the three distributors failed for years to monitor and report suspicious orders of opioid products, which resulted in diversion of those drugs on a massive scale, as well as claims that Johnson & Johnson deceptively marketed its fentanyl products to health care providers and patients.
What’s that, a couple of thousands per death?