Alaska will receive $58 million from opioid settlement

Alaska’s share of a $26 billion nationwide settlement with opioid distributors and a manufacturer is $58 million, the state Department of Law announced March 1.

According to the Department of Law, 15% of the $58 million — roughly $8.7 million — will go to the nine cities and boroughs in Alaska that participated in the lawsuit. The remaining funds will be used by the state to help Alaskans recover from opioid addiction, the release said.

The payments will stretch over the next two decades, under terms of the settlement.

“All of us know someone who suffered from opioid addiction, and this crisis has taken its toll on our communities,” said Attorney General Taylor in a statement. “This agreement sends a message to the companies that would put profits ahead of people.”

The governor’s Advisory Council on Opioid Remediation, which was established last year, will make recommendations on how to spend the money in a report due Dec. 1, the release said. That council is comprised of nine voting members and four non-voting members from the Legislature.

According to the agreement, the nine municipalities within Alaska that participated in the suit and will receive their own payment are Anchorage; the city of Fairbanks; Fairbanks North Star Borough; Juneau; Kenai Peninsula Borough; Ketchikan Gateway Borough; Kodiak Island Borough; the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and the city of Wasilla.

Alaska’s share is part of a $26 billion settlement between pharmaceutical wholesalers Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, and manufacturer and Johnson & Johnson, which together faced more than 4,000 lawsuits in state and federal courts, according to the Department of Law.

The companies will begin releasing funds to a national administrator on April 2, according to the Department of Law, and money will start going to states in July.

Funds going to the state of Alaska will have to be appropriated by the Legislature and will have to go toward opioid remediation per the settlement agreement.

In 2017, then-Gov. Bill Walker issued a disaster declaration for the opioid epidemic following a rise in opioid-related overdoses and deaths.