Poster #154 - Mapping the Opioid Settlements: A 50-State Analysis of Lawsuits, Payouts, and Policy Use

• In Event: Friday Poster Reception

Abstract

Background: Over the past decade, states have sued and settled with various entities involved in opioid manufacturing, distribution, and marketing over their alleged contributions to the ongoing opioid crisis. The settlements may collectively amount to hundreds of billions of dollars, representing an unprecedented opportunity for long-term public health investment, yet to date, no comprehensive, publicly available effort has systematically tracked (i) the judgments, (ii) the amounts each state will receive, (iii) the legal authorities that govern disbursement, or (iv) how dollars are ultimately being spent. This lack of transparency and accessibility inhibits informed policymaking and public awareness. 

Data contribution: This project fills the information gap by (1) creating a comprehensive and publicly accessible 50-state database that includes opioid settlement judgments, memorandum of understanding, relevant statutes, and use-of-funds agreements; (2) creating a structured panel of annual payment schedules; (3) producing briefs using descriptive and comparative analyses for each major multidistrict lawsuit, with insights into the allowed uses of funds, payment schedules, and other complexities; and (4) producing briefs for each state, with insights into settlements and expected funds, statutory procedures for allocations, spending priorities, and documented outlays to date, qualitatively coded by program area.

Process: This project first gathers primary source documents. Individual settlements between the states and the defendants found through online searches, state court access portals, and information requests are compiled in a publicly-accessible Google Drive database. Additional primary source documents include state memoranda-of-understanding (MOUs) between the state and local governments, state statutes concerning the receipt and use of opioid funds, and the authorities in charge of such fund.

A publicly-accessible spreadsheet tracks the payment for each state per judgment, broken out into received and expected payments, and further shows the breakdown of payments between the state as opposed to the total payments received by the state and its political subdivisions. 

Lastly, briefs are produced, providing greater accessibility to the above information. Lawsuit-specific briefs provide summaries of the global settlement agreements, including information on settlement terms, payments by the defendant, and approved uses of funds. State-specific briefs provide insight into state-specific settlement terms, how each state has structured its opioid settlement proceeds citing MOUs and state statutes, and include information on identified spending priorities and previously disbursed funds. 

Implications: Greater awareness of the opioid settlements will allow policymakers to develop and pass informed legislation, maximizing the public health benefit through innovative uses of funds. The briefs and fund tracker will facilitate relevant stakeholder’s understanding and the public’s awareness of these settlements, increasing transparency and accountability in government. Finally, the compilation of primary source documents will provide a novel database for legal and public health researchers to use in measuring the processes and impacts of these monumental public settlements.

Author

• Jakob Dupuis, Cicero Institute
  Presenting Author