The City of Baltimore has reached a historic $45 million settlement with Allergan Finance, LLC to resolve claims against the opioid distributors and manufactures who have fueled Baltimore’s opioid epidemic.
Allergan will pay the City the $45 million in one lump sum within 30 days. The amount exceeds settlement agreements Allergan made with many other states, including with the State of Maryland earlier this year, which came to $38 million paid over seven years.
The settlement marks the latest step towards justice for those harmed through opioid addiction in Baltimore. Over the last six years, nearly 6,000 people in Baltimore have lost their lives to the opioid epidemic.
Mayor Brandon Scott has said since taking office in 2020 that he would attempt to hold distributors and manufacturers accountable for the impact the opioid crisis had on Baltimore City’s residents, claiming those companies put their profits over the health and safety of the people of Baltimore.
“We are fully aware of the devastating toll that the actions of these defendants have taken on our City, and we have shown our commitment to ensuring that they pay their fair share to tackle the harms they have left in the wake of their greed,” Scott said in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring that every penny of this and any other amount recovered is put to its most effective and best use to combat the opioid epidemic in Baltimore City at all levels.”
“Our legal team is confident in the value of our case, and we will not be settling for anything that does not take into account the significant resources needed to overcome the widespread effects of the defendants’ actions,” said Ebony Thompson, Baltimore City Solicitor, in a statement.
Allergan’s opioid drugs, Kadian and Norco, only made up less than half a percent of the opioids sent to Baltimore pharmacies. This means that the remaining defendants in Baltimore City’s lawsuits (Walmart, Walgreens, Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, CVS, Teva, and former Insys CEO John Kapoor) together are responsible for over 80% of the opioids targeted at Baltimore pharmacies.
“Mayor Scott and his team are committed to doing everything in their power to address the opioid epidemic in Baltimore and to using the resources they recover in litigation to help fight the ongoing epidemic,” read the press release from Scott’s office. “In its settlement agreement with Allergan, the City has committed to using at least $5 million of the recovery for the Peer Navigator Program and $5 million of the recovery for Charm City Care Connection, both programs that have done tremendous work fighting the opioid epidemic in Baltimore and that will be able to do even more with these resources.”
Scott announced the formation of a board that will oversee the spending of money from the opioid settlement. More information on the creation of that board will be announced soon.
