Nevada to join $26B multistate opioid settlement

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) announced on Tuesday that his state would be joining two multistate opioid settlements, receiving hundreds of millions of dollars for combating the opioid epidemic.

“The funds that our state will receive going forward will help us save lives and mitigate the harms done to our residents because of the ongoing opioid epidemic,” Ford said in a statement.

Nevada will receive roughly $285.2 million, with the funds coming from a multistate settlement with the three largest opioid distributors; an agreement between the federal government and Johnson & Johnson; and a grant from the Department of Justice.

“Our team has worked diligently to get Nevada the resources we must have to help Nevadans in need in one of the epidemic’s hardest-hit states, and to obtain justice from many opioid manufacturers and distributors,” he added. “While no settlement will bring back those lost to opioids, these funds will be used to prevent further loss of life and help heal Nevada’s families.”

According to Ford, the funds could begin coming into Nevada as soon as the first quarter of this year. The attorney general stated that the severity of the opioid epidemic as well as the recent overturning of the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement deal influenced the decision to join the multistate settlement.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon ruled that the deal, which would have protected the Sackler family, the owners of Purdue Pharma, from future opioid-related lawsuits, had been granted without proper authority. The deal would have resulted in roughly $4 billion going to charitable assets over a nine-year period as well as the dissolution of Purdue.