COLUMBUS, Ohio (WDTN) — Attorney General Dave Yost announced that 96 percent of the Ohio’s city, county, township and village partners are onboard with the OneOhio opioid settlement agreement.
According to Yost, the rising support for the agreement with Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen makes the $808 million settlement a “real possibility.”
“I understand the need to carefully consider this issue,” Yost said. “But without a trial date, no subdivision will do any better than this deal in a standalone negotiation — and time is of the essence.”
As of Tuesday, Aug. 17, 135 of the 143 litigating local governments had signed on to OneOhio – a total representing more than 96% of the population within the litigating subdivisions. The remaining 4 percent have until Friday, Aug. 20, to join in.
Yost said that the state developed the OneOhio plan to ensure that any money from a negotiated settlement gets distributed fairly to the communities hit hardest by the opioid epidemic but those communities have to agree to take part before they’re included.
The settlement money would be distributed most at a local level, with:
- 55 percent going to a foundation created to disburse the money and fund programs that benefit Ohioans affected by opioids and/or prevent addiction
- 30 percent earmarked for community recovery programs at the local level
- 15 percent going to the state of Ohio
“This is an opportunity to get real money going to help real people,” said Yost. “These communities desperately need this money to be put to work on the ground, to pay for essential treatment, prevention and education.”
