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Bloomington, Monroe County opt back into state opioid settlement

By Holden Abshier

Posted March 24, 2022

prescription-opioids_sb.jpg

(WFIU/WTIU file photo)

Bloomington City Council and the Monroe County Board of Commissioners both voted Wednesday to opt back into the state’s opioid settlement.

The county and city voted to opt out in June 2021 to pursue their own claims against opioid manufacturers. 

“At the end of last year’s legislative session, the state made some legislative changes that really made it quite unfavorable for local governments to participate in the opioid settlement,” Bloomington corporation counsel Beth Cate said. “The level of participation, monetarily, for local governments was quite low.”

The previous state law allocated 70 percent of any settlement to be paid to the Family and Social Services Administration, 15 percent to the state, and 15 percent to local government. It also would have barred local governments from participating in further lawsuits.

However, the new state law allocates 50 percent to local governments. It also allows those governments to participate in future litigation.

Thus far, the city has been designated $2,130,022 for its first two settlements. It still owes 8.7 percent for attorney fees to Indianapolis-based Cohen & Malad, which is the same fee for all local governments the group represents in the state. After $185,000 in fees, the city is left with about $1.9 million. 

“This is a good deal,” Cate said. “It is very good actually, and it is better than we believe the city will be able to do on its own.”

She said the city is expecting to recieve its first payment next month.

“We’re going to have a lot of deliberation ahead of us to determine how to best spend these funds, especially because the disbursements will be over a number of years,” councilmember Isabel Piedmont Smith said. 

She said she recomends the city and county combine funds if both governments are interested in creating a new opioid-focused program. 

Council voted unanimously to opt back into the state settlement.

During the county commissioner meeting earlier Wednesday, county attorney Jeff Cockerill said the county is set to receive $2,945,973 through the first two settlements. After paying 8.7 percent in attorney fees, the county is left with about $2.7 million. 

“That is not all the settlements that are going to be coming in,” Cockerill said. “Those are the first two." 

Purdue Pharma, one of the leading opioid manufacturers, is yet to settle its lawsuit.

“We have been concerned about providing treatment for people with substance abuse disorders, also mental health illness,” commissioner Penny Githens said. “But this will help us hopefully fund some of that.”

Commissioners voted 2-0 in favor of opting back into the state settlement. Commissioner Lee Jones was not present.

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