Johnson County can participate in a pending litigation settlement worth approximately $2.5 million, assistant county attorneys revealed at the county Board of Supervisors’ Wednesday work session meeting.

The litigation involves the pharmaceutical companies Teva and Allergan and the pharmacies of Walgreens, CVS, and Wal-Mart. The county has the option of opting into the settlement if it wants.

According to the attorneys’ presentation, the current litigation has been ongoing since 2018, when Johnson County joined other governments to participate in lawsuits against drug makers and pharmacies. The trials are happening in Ohio, with the county having lawyers representing them there.

On a slide in their presentation, the attorney’s outlined that the county currently could receive up to $2.95 million over the coming years due to a different settlement reached in 2021. Of this, the county has already received $600,000.

That settlement has been split into two groups, one for the drug makers and one for the pharmacies. Money from the drug makers will continue to come from 2028 to 2033, and money from the pharmacies will continue through 2038.

The settlements are not exclusive to local governments, as the University of Iowa Health Care joined the Iowa Attorney General’s Office in 2021 to use the settlement money to create opioid treatment programs.

The new settlement will have a total of $33.9 million to be distributed among local governments of Iowa based on a memorandum of understanding. The attorneys’ estimated that Johnson County would receive roughly $2.5 million of this, which would be paid out until fiscal year 2037.

Once the money is received, the county must adhere to rules established under the memorandum on how to use it. In this case, the money would have to go towards opioid remediation programs.

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These programs could be to help people currently suffering from opioid use and to prevent future abuse addiction, among other possibilities.

During the presentation, Assistant County Attorney Nathan Peters said the attorneys recommended the county designate an individual or create a group to oversee the money, especially to ensure its going towards remediation programs. 

Currently, the county has an ad hoc group composed of different county officials, but the attorneys recommended having a formal body created to oversee the money.

“So our advice would be to designate a project owner like, a workgroup or a committee. To this point, there had been an ad hoc group, but with the amount of money that’s coming, and the kind of the reporting requirements that go with that one with the money, we anticipate that at this point, there’s probably a need for something greater than the ad hoc group,” Peters said.

The supervisors were supportive of joining the litigation and of forming a group, including supervisor Jon Green. He spoke of the challenges the county would face in using the money because of the restrictions but also said the county would be ready for the challenge.

“It’s going to be a challenge for us, but I think it’s a worthwhile challenge. We don’t have a crystal ball,” Green said. “You know, this opioid use disorder could become a much more pressing problem in the future. I think this gives us an opportunity to be well prepared.” 

The supervisors will vote next Thursday whether to join the litigation or not.