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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah will receive $209 million in the latest of a series of opioid settlements, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes announced Tuesday.
A multistate settlement with drug makers Teva and Allergan, as well as pharmacies CVS and Walgreens, is garnering $17.3 billion in opioid agreements.
Utah will receive $209 million of that agreement over the next 15 years. A special legislative committee has been formed to portion out the money to different counties to aid in treatment, prevention and addiction recovery.
"This latest settlement is another victory for the Utah Attorney General's Office, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Health and Human Services and the many other government agencies who have persistently demanded those responsible for the opioid epidemic address the effects they have had on our communities," the Utah Attorney General's Office said in a statement Tuesday.
The portion of the settlement allotted to each state is based on a formula that combines a state's population, the severity of opioid addiction in that state, the number of cases and the number of deaths.
States participating in the settlement included North Carolina, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
This is the latest in a series of opioid settlements in Utah and across the country, including $31 million from Walmart and a $266 million payout from Johnson and Johnson, Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen. A final agreement with Walmart is still in the works, per the Utah Attorney General's Office.
Pharmaceutical litigations have resulted in more than $50 billion in national settlements so far.
As part of the settlement, Teva must stop marketing opioids and put systems in place to prevent drug misuse, and Allergen has to stop selling opioids for 10 years. CVS and Walgreens pharmacies are now required to monitor and share data about opioid prescriptions.
In Utah, on average per year, 323 people die from a prescription opioid drug overdose, 156 people die from a heroin overdose and 88 people die from a synthetic opioid overdose, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Police in Box Elder County have seen an increase in fentanyl use this year, confirming around 40 overdoses and three deaths in recent months, as of March.
Utah also received $10.8 million from the Biden-Harris administration in September to help fight the opioid crisis, including increasing access to opioid treatment programs, substance abuse disorder treatments and recovery support services.
