The Pulaski County Commissioners signed a resolution Monday night in the multi-district, federal litigation against the manufacturers and distributors of highly addictive prescription medications in 2018.
The county joined the lawsuit, but later opted out because of some certain settlement structures. The commissioners agreed to opt back in Monday night after learning that those issues were resolved.
Pulaski County Attorney Kevin Tankersley explained that the county will be receiving $387,751.20 from defendants McKesson, Amerisource, and Cardinal Health over an 18 year period, and $90,927.29 from Johnson and Johnson over a 7 year period. About $30,000 of that would go toward attorney fees to Cohen and Malad.
Tankersley added that about 15 percent of those funds would be unrestricted and the rest would go toward remediation programs for opioid abuse. The commissioners unanimously approved the paperwork as presented.
