Local advocacy group weighs in on Florida opioid lawsuit settlement

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Attorney General announced today the state has settled a major lawsuit with several pharmaceutical companies just days before they were set to go to trial.

Now, the state will be getting $860 million to distribute across cities and counties that participated in the litigation over an 18 year period. Duval County is set to get 5.4% of that payout.

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TJ Ward is the North Florida Director of Advocacy for Project Opioid Jax. He is all too familiar with the opioid epidemic and its impact on families.

“You never can put a price tag on the lives that were lost and the families that have been devastated by this issue.”

Big pharma companies including CVS, Walgreens, Allergan, Teva, and Endo will be paying the state of Florida $860 million over 18 years in a settlement, following the state’s lawsuit that the companies’ actions contributed to and encouraged the opioid epidemic that has taken thousands of lives in Florida.

“We saw in 2020 585 overdose deaths here in Duval County which is the highest it has ever been,” Ward said. And those numbers are consistently rising.

Duval itself is getting $47.5 million of the payout. To put that in perspective, Broward County is getting the largest payout at just over $79 million. St. Johns County is getting just over $6 million.

Ward wants to see the settlement money used wisely.

“We want to direct it toward things that are going to save people’s lives.”

He wants to see the money go towards raising awareness, sponsoring peer support programs, education for teens and detox facilities for uninsured individuals.

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“We know that minority populations have increased and overdose deaths.”

Ward’s research shows the highest number of overdoses in our community are in Black, Hispanic, and rural populations. One fire chief from Clay County Glenn East says he’s seen that trend firsthand.

“It’s a more rural area. I think the problem is just much more widespread.”

Clay County, which ranks 22 out of 67 counties for overdoses in Florida, is set to get 1.19% of the payout, which still amounts to over $10 million over the 18 year period.

CVS will be contributing the most, adding $440 million to the settlement. Teva will be adding $117 million, Allergen will be adding $122 million and Endo contributes $65 million.

“Grateful for the fact that there is accountability that there is funding coming, but I would tell you that it’s not enough compared to the lives that it’s devastated and ruined. You can’t put a price tag on that,” Ward said.

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