The deadline for eligible municipalities to voluntarily participate in two historic opioid settlements is next week on January 26.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is urging those eligible to sign up for direct payments, which could begin as early as April 2022.
Michigan formally signed on to the proposed multibillion-dollar national settlements in August, which is with Johnson & Johnson and the three largest pharmaceutical distributors in the country: Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen. The state is positioned to receive nearly $800 million over 18 years.
Based on the settlement terms, there are 277 local units of government – called subdivisions in the settlement agreement – eligible to participate in Michigan.
Each of Michigan’s counties are part of that 277 total. Other municipalities are eligible if the municipality is currently litigating against the defendants or the municipality has a population of 10,000 people or more.
The original deadline was January 2, but was later extended to January 26.
A new status report on current registrations – as of 10:30 a.m. January 19 – is now available on the Department’s website (www.michigan.gov/ag).
The document reflects two status columns because there are two settlements. The payment estimate noted for each subdivision reflects the total anticipated amount if the subdivision elects to participate in both settlements.
Eligible subdivisions can email for help with the participation process. Once again, the deadline is January 26 to register.
Additional information on this historic settlement can be found on the Department’s website.
A national website has been created to provide additional information on the settlement at https://nationalopioidsettlement.com.
