Township Council voted unanimously on Resolution 2021-13 Monday Night. This, according to the resolution, is ‘Authorizing the Township of Wilkes-Barre to enter into Settlement Agreements with McKessen Corporation; Cardinal Health, Inc; Amerisource Bergen Corporation; Johnson & Johnson; Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc., and agree to the terms of the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust,’ which will allocate funds to the Township in addressing issues wrought by the Opioid Crisis.
Ryan Evans | Times Leader
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WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Council members voted unanimously Monday night to enter into “Settlement Agreements” with numerous pharmaceutical companies and agree to the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust.
The Resolution, deemed 2021-13, essentially secures funding from pharmaceutical companies such as: McKessen Corporation; Cardinal Health, Inc; Amerisource Bergen Corporation; Johnson & Johnson; Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc., being held accountable for the opioid crisis in America.
According to the Resolution:
In dealing with the Opioid Crisis, the state as well as local governments have spent estimated billions of dollars each year on “opiate abuse, addiction, overdose, and death.”
Since 2017, governments on all levels around the country have been attempting to gain legal justice against “big pharma,” referred to as “Opioid Defendants” in the Resolution, as well as hold them financially accountable for the impact of substance abuse.
Negotiations with the aforementioned companies, referred to as Settling Defendants, have been going on for some time now, and the proposed terms of several different settlements, are collectively being referred to as Settlement Agreements.
These Settlement Agreements will see payments made to “settling government entities,” which now includes Wilkes-Barre Township. Disbursement of the Pennsylvania Opioid Funds was discussed by the state Office of the Attorney General along with local government entities, resulting in the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust.
The Trust, as it’s called within the Resolution, outlines the allocation of funds as such: 15% to a Commonwealth Account; 15% to a Litigating Subdivision Account; and 70% to local governments in a County Abatement Account. Furthermore, any political subdivision deemed an “Eligible Local Government” will only receive its allocation when it signs the “Participation Agreements to the Settlements.”
By voting to enter into this agreement, Wilkes-Barre Township now authorizes Michael Revitt, the Business Administrator of the Township of Wilkes-Barre, to “settle and release the Township of Wilkes-Barre’s claims against the Settling Defendants in exchange for the consideration set forth in the Settlement Agreements and Trust Agreement.”
There was no word as to when funds will be secured or where they will be used.