Lexington County will receive estimated $17M in opioid lawsuit settlement
Lexington County is set to receive a portion of a national opioid settlement.
Lexington County Council voted on Tuesday to accept the county’s share of a settlement reached by S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson with drug manufacturers Allergan and Teva, and pharmacies CVS, Walgreens and Walmart.
The settlement will be worth about $17 million to Lexington County, said Councilman Darrell Hudson. The attorney general’s office said in December South Carolina’s total portion of the multi-state settlement could be $242 million.
Hudson told The State he pushed for the county to join lawsuits against drug manufacturers after he struggled with opioid use himself after becoming dependent on prescribed painkillers more than a decade ago.
“I worked my way off of them with my family’s help, and I realized how bad it was,” he said. “Then I realized I wasn’t the only one out there with this problem.”
Major drug manufacturers “knew there was a problem and they tried to cover it up,” Hudson said.
In recent years, multiple states have come to the same conclusion in pushing lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies over the wide availability of addictive medications. In other cases, juries have agreed to hold companies liable, leading to the multi-million dollar settlement in South Carolina’s favor.
The attorney general’s office says the money is available to counties and cities around South Carolina for use in combating the opioid epidemic, including education, prevention and harm reduction efforts, and treatment and recovery services. Because Lexington County was one of the first local governments to sign up to the lawsuit, Hudson said, and he expects the county will receive a larger share of South Carolina’s settlement.
In Lexington County, the money will go to providing emergency responders with the anti-overdose medication Narcan, drug counseling and staff to deal with drug dependence issues in the county jail, Hudson said.
“Before, someone would come in under the influence of opiates and going through withdrawals, and (the jail system) didn’t know how to handle it,” Hudson said. “Now we can staff accordingly.”
As part of the settlement, the three pharmacies agreed to monitor, report and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions. Allergan and Teva agreed to a prohibition on promoting opioids, both directly and through third-party front groups, and engaging in opioid-related lobbying activities, the attorney general’s office said.
Payouts will begin in the second half of 2023, through payments from the various parties spread out over 15 years. With full participation by counties and eligible cities, South Carolina will have nearly $600 million in funds for opioid abatement over the next 15 years, according to the state attorney general’s office.
“The opioid crisis is the deadliest drug epidemic in US history, and it was created and fueled by numerous companies,” Wilson said in a statement in December. “We’ve seen the lives lost and families ruined. That’s why my office and attorneys general across the country have been working for years to hold these companies accountable and make them change the way they do business. This settlement and the changes these companies are making will mean more South Carolinians will be alive, healthy, and happy.”
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