The judge overseeing Baltimore’s case against a handful of opioid manufacturers is allowing the introduction of a crucial piece of evidence that may benefit the city.
Seven years ago, McKesson settled a case with the U.S. Justice Department.
In that settlement, the company accepted that it did not properly report suspicious orders of pharmaceuticals or maintain preventative measures to prevent the diversion of drugs.
Now, the judge overseeing Baltimore’s case against McKesson and others says that piece of evidence can be used in court.
“That exposes them to substantial damages,” said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Virginia. ‘That would lead me to think that they might be seriously considering settlement.”
McKesson is set to join other opioid manufacturers and distributors like Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson in court on Monday to defend against Baltimore’s accusations of fraudulent and reckless marketing of opioids.
According to the DEA, McKesson is responsible for as much as 50% of the opioids that flowed into Baltimore.
To date, Baltimore has received $402.5 million from five different companies in settlements related to opioids.
Last month, Scott signed an executive order building a governance structure around how to use the money brought in through the settlements.
The city will initially allocate $20 million to the health department and $42 million to 12 organizations focused on substance abuse and overdose prevention like Tuerk House and Helping Up Mission.
“It isn’t enough to win the funds — we need to put them to work,” Scott said. “This executive order will ensure that restitution funds are governed responsibly, transparently, and effectively in order to support our residents and communities most affected by the epidemic — not just during this administration, but for years to come.”
With the executive order, the city states that the funds will be used purely for substance abuse and overdose programs and services. That includes treatment, recovery, harm reduction and social determinants to health associated with the opioid epidemic. The order also sanctions the use of the funds for infrastructure relating to those programs and their evaluation.
The money can go to both governmental and private organizations for those purposes.
The city will create an opioid restitution advisory board to recommend the best way to spend those funds.
The city is also creating a trust fund to stash the money it wins. A city official said it will be used much like a university endowment where the funds will be invested and the interest will be used for future programs.
However, to ensure the money is used, the executive order mandates that at least 5% of the funds are spent annually on programs and services.
The city is creating two new positions, an executive director of overdose response and an opioid restitution program manager to directly oversee programs and grants.
