The state of Kentucky will receive more than $317 million over 15 years as part of a $17.3 billion national settlement, the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office says.
In a press release from Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the settlement is with pharmaceutical companies Teva and Allergan as well as pharmacies CVS and Walgreens.
“I have repeatedly called the drug epidemic the public health challenge of our lifetime—and I mean it,” said Attorney General Cameron in a press release. “While nothing can bring back the lives and livelihoods lost to the opioid epidemic, I hope these settlements will give Kentuckians some relief and help prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.”
As part of the agreement, the companies have agreed to begin releasing funds to a national administrator later this summer, with money expected to begin flowing to state and local governments by the end of 2023.
According to Cameron’s office, the settlement will also require Teva to institute programs that will prevent opioid marketing and ensure systems are in place to prevent opioid misuse, among other things.
Additionally, Allergan must not sell opioids for the next 10 years, and CVS and Walgreens have agreed to monitor, report, and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions, his office says.
Cameron was joined by AGs from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin in securing the settlement.