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On December 21, 2022, Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that Washington was joining multistate resolutions with five companies: CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Teva, and Allergan. The Attorney General’s Office estimates that these five settlements could total $434.4 million for Washington state:
- CVS: $110.6 million over 10 years;
- Walgreens: $120.3 million over 15 years;
- Walmart: $62.6 million and 97% of that paid in the first year;
- Teva: $90.7 million over the next 13 years; and
- Allergan: $50 million over the next seven years.
As with the prior distributor settlement, these new settlements are contingent on a very high percentage of eligible cities and counties joining the settlements. If not enough cities and counties join, the settlements are void. Check the current status of local governments who have signed on here.
The deadline for cities and counties to join the five settlements is April 18, 2023.
The amount that Washington state will receive varies depending on how many eligible cities and counties join the settlements.
If all eligible cities and counties join as they did for the distributor settlement, cities and counties will receive half of the amount – $217.2 million – that Washington state receives. This amount must be spent on Opioid Remediation to abate the opioid crisis in their communities.
If not all eligible cities and counties join, the amounts payable under the settlements will decrease significantly.
How to join the settlements
A county or city can join the settlements by signing and returning each of these documents on the DocuSign platform using the link that each has received:
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While the DocuSign platform is preferred, the fully completed five Participation Forms and the signature page for the Allocation Agreement II can be returned to opioidsparticipation@rubris.com.
Detailed instructions on how to sign and return the Participation Forms and Allocation Agreement II, including changing the authorized signer, can be found on the National Opioids Settlement website. You may also contact opioidsparticipation@rubris.com.
The deadline for cities and counties to join the five settlements is April 18, 2023.
How to learn more about these settlements
This press release has information on the five new settlements.
Additionally, WSAC and AWC hosted meetings in February 2023 where the AGO presented on these settlements.
You also may wish to consult with your own legal counsel.
More information and documents regarding these settlements can be found on the national settlement website at https://nationalopioidsettlement.com/.
The settlement documents
The Participation Forms require the local governments to abide by the terms of the settlement agreements, which can be found under Resources or at https://nationalopioidsettlement.com/.
The Allocation Agreement II is the agreement between the State and eligible cities and counties to split the settlements. By signing the Allocation Agreement II, cities and counties are agreeing to and reaffirming that the One Washington Memorandum of Understanding between the Washington Municipalities governs their share of the settlement proceeds. The One Washington Memorandum of Understanding between the Washington Municipalities splits the settlement share of the local governments. Exhibit B lists each local government’s share.
Contacting the AGO
If you have questions about the settlements or the process to join the settlements, please contact Jeff Rupert, the Division Chief for the AGO’s Complex Litigation Division at Jeffrey.Rupert@atg.wa.gov and comopioidscases@atg.wa.gov. The AGO will be monitoring the sign-on progress and encouraging all eligible local governments in Washington to join.
All opioid settlements
These five settlements do not affect the amounts that Washington will receive from past settlements.
The estimated $434.4 million in resolutions from these five companies as well as others like Purdue, McKinsey, Mallinckrodt and the three major opioid distributors will bring Washington state’s overall total to more than $1.1 billion to help fund the state’s opioid abatement and recovery programs.
