ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — St. Louis County received more than $4.8 million from Johnson & Johnson and three drug distribution companies, the first installment of an opioid settlement the companies reached with Missouri.
The payment is the first of about $45 million the county will receive as part of the $458 million settlement that the state reached earlier this year. The money was deposited into the Opioid Remediation Fund and will be used to support the treatment of substance use or mental health.
“With these settlement funds, we have the opportunity to amplify and support treatment and prevention programs and save more lives from overdoses,” County Executive Sam Page said in a press release.
The state of Missouri will get 60% of the settlement money and dole it out in grants to addiction treatment and prevention programs throughout the state, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in February. The other 40% will go directly to cities and other municipalities.
It's a deal with Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson.
The money represents Missouri’s share of a broader $26 billion deal between opioid makers and distributors and other state and local governments across the U.S. Lawyers for state and local governments reached the settlement after suing to force the pharmaceutical industry to help pay to fix a nationwide opioid addiction and overdose crisis.
These settlements will be paid out over a term of 18 years, on a graduated scale that pays larger sums in early years and decreases over time.
In 2021, Missouri became the final state in the country to adopt a prescription drug monitoring program.
Missouri’s Good Samaritan law prevents people from being prosecuted if they report someone overdosing while they, too, are using illegal drugs.
Prevent-Ed can provide Narcan and online training on how to use it. For more information, visit the organization’s website or call 314-962-3456 for more information.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
