Thursday, April 25, 2024 | St. Lawrence County, NY
BY JIMMY LAWTON North Country This Week St. Lawrence County will receive a total of $789,874.84 over 15 years as part of a class action settlement with CVS, Walgreens and Walmart. The entire Walmart …
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BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week
St. Lawrence County will receive a total of $789,874.84 over 15 years as part of a class action settlement with CVS, Walgreens and Walmart.
The entire Walmart payment will be paid in 2023 for a total of $184,545.75.
The CVS payment will come over the course of a nine-year period ending in 2032 for a total of $291,935.55.
The Walgreen’s payment will finish in 2037 for a total of $313,393.54.
The settlement is in addition to $4,898,853.98 in opioid settlements already received from other pharmaceutical companies that produce, market and distribute Oxycontin and have been accused of contributing to the opioid epidemic that has devastated communities across the nation.
The settlements were approved by the Finance Committee, but will need to be finalized by the full board of legislators in April.
In addition to the above settlements the county is expected to receive more than $4 million in a settlement with Purdue Pharma, which is currently mired in bankruptcy proceedings.
Legislators signed on to the lawsuit in 2017 after it was determined that it had the second highest opioid related inpatient hospitalization rate in the state. The county also has a high rate of opioid overdose deaths.
St. Lawrence County Attorney Stephen Button noted that Oxycontin is a legal drug, highly regulated and prescribed by doctors.
In past legislator meetings Button explained that it was the marketing process and information provided to doctors that prompted the responsibility from the manufacturer. The allegation is that the dosage and recommendations made to doctors failed to identify the potential for abuse and addiction associated with the dosages suggested by manufacturers.
In the resolution approved Monday the county determined it is in their “best interest to resolve this matter with respect to “Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS without further litigation and enter into the proposed agreement as it shall settle all allegations against these three defendants and avoid protracted litigation.”
