Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is urging municipalities that qualify to volunteer to partake in the Walgreens National Opioids Settlement that would bring up to $338 million to Michigan over a span of 18 years.
The participation cutoff date for local governments to receive direct payments is Wednesday, September 6, 2023, which is the Wednesday after Labor Day.
“This settlement puts Opioid remediation dollars directly into affected communities all across Michigan to combat the devastating Opioid epidemic, but only if the local governments sign-on to participate,” said Nessel. “In this way we are able to hold accountable a company responsible for harm to our families and communities, who reaped the benefits of this epidemic by putting profits over people. I encourage every eligible municipality to participate in the settlement so that their residents can receive the much-needed funds for Opioid use prevention and remediation.”
Attorney General Nessel reached a $338 million settlement with Walgreens earlier this June. She sued Walgreens in the Wayne County Circuit Court for Walgreens’ role in Michigan’s Opioid epidemic, alleging that Walgreens created a public nuisance and violated the Drug Dealer Liability Act.
Michigan’s Walgreens settlement requires that Michigan join the Walgreens National Opioids Settlement. The settlement allows 278 local units of government in Michigan - called subdivisions in the settlement agreement - to participate. The Department of Attorney General has a full list of eligible subdivisions on its website.
Eligible subdivisions that have not completed participation forms may email the Department for additional instructions before the September 6 deadline to participate and receive direct payments.
Michigan stands to receive up to $338 million over the life of the settlement, which is dependent, in part, on the participation of local governments. Spending priority would be placed on treatment and prevention.
Since taking office, AG Nessel has prioritized combatting the Opioid epidemic. To date, AG Nessel has joined seven other nationwide Opioid settlements, resulting in over $1.5 billion to Michigan governments.