DuPage County’s proceeds from a series of opioid settlements with drug manufacturers, pharmacies, and other entities remain flush with cash. Officials are considering possible uses for the proceeds in the short- and long-term future.
A look at the current, and future, opioid settlements
At a DuPage County Board meeting Tuesday, Feb. 10, Robert Berlin, DuPage County’s state’s attorney, gave a high-level overview of the state of the local opioid settlement fund proceeds, which are subject to future replenishment as additional settlements are reached.
At the end of the county’s last fiscal year, which closed Nov. 30, the unspent settlement fund had a balance of $6.12 million, Berlin reported during the presentation. The amount included $5.7 million in gross proceeds and nearly $420,000 in interest income from investing the funds.
Looking ahead, Berlin said he anticipates an additional $5.09 million in current settlement receipts going into the fund within the next five years. The figure is expected to rise as additional settlements are reached.
Berlin noted a new sizable settlement with Purdue Pharma was reached recently. He said he expects the county’s settlement fund balance to be “significantly greater” once the exact dollar amount with Purdue comes into sharper focus.
To date, Berlin said settlements have been reached with nine entities, which he indicated “will continue to pay the county over the next several years.”
Speaking to the specificity of some of the settlements, Berlin added, “We have reached agreements with the nation’s three largest pharmaceutical distributors, which manufactured and marketed opioids. This agreement also requires significant industry changes that will prevent this type of crisis from happening again.”
Berlin said the opioid settlement funds can be applied toward a number of specific purposes, oftentimes falling within one of three buckets: treatment, prevention, and other strategies.
Examples include treating opioid use disorders, prevention efforts to shine a light on the misuse of opioids, and training first responders on appropriate practices and precautions.
A look back at the opioid crisis’ rise, and settlement talks
Opioids, once a common prescription medication for its potency, came under fire as its addictive properties led to a rising number of overdoses and deaths. In his recent presentation, Berlin said opioids have been linked to 900,000 deaths in the U.S.
DuPage and a number of other nearby counties — including Kane, McHenry, and Will — filed lawsuits late in 2017 against various entities. Additional governing agencies within Illinois followed suit. Since then, a series of settlements have been reached.
“The complaints allege that for more than 20 years, the defense developed and executed a coordinated, sophisticated and highly deceptive marketing campaign for opioid drugs,” Berlin said.
He added, “The defendants, both individually and collectively, knowing that long-term opioid use causes addiction, misrepresented the dangers of long-term opioid use to physicians, pharmacists, and patients, by engaging in an intentionally deceptive campaign.”
Ultimately, a document known as the Illinois Allocation Agreement was drawn up. Its intent is to delineate and distribute proceeds from the assorted settlements.
“While other states across the country were able to get their local governments 15% or 20% of all monies coming in, here in Illinois, we were able to get an agreement with the attorney general, where 25% of all settlement money goes to local government recovery funds,” Berlin said. “That means that DuPage County, along with all other governments that had filed suit, gets 25% of all the settlement that comes in.”
County Board members weigh in on settlement proceeds
Berlin presented the DuPage County Board with several considerations at the recent meeting, including using some of the proceeds towards the nearly 6-month-old Crisis Recovery Center’s operating costs in Wheaton.
Based on preliminary discussions, there was support behind such a proposal.
“I am absolutely in favor of spending the interest on the CRC,” District 5 board member Dawn DeSart said. “That would be a great use of the funds.”
Board member Sam Tornatore, of District 1, suggested an agenda item under the “new business” portion of the board’s meeting to consummate allocating some of the settlement funds toward the recovery center.
“It will go a long way toward the sustainability,” Tornatore said.
If you have a story idea, send us a tip!
