Anderson County takes steps toward getting opioid settlement

CLINTON — Anderson County Commission at its most recent meeting took steps toward receiving funds from an opioid lawsuit settlement.

County Commission approved a resolution, included in the Anderson County Commission agenda on the county website, that allows Mayor Terry Frank to execute all administrative documents required to facilitate final resolution of the global opioid litigation after the Board of Commissioners receives the final settlement.

The resolution stated that after two years of negotiations, two proposed nationwide settlements have been reached that would resolve the litigation that states and local governments — including Anderson County — filed against three pharmaceutical distributors, McKesson, Cardinal Health and Amerisource Bergen, and one manufacturer, Jassen Pharmaceauticals, a Johnson & Johnson company.

The settlements, a statement from the Tennessee Attorney General's Office stated, require the distributors to pay up to $21 billion over 18 years to the various governments. Jassen will pay $5 billion over more than nine years to the various governments with $3.7 billion of that during the first three.

Jay Yeager, the county law director, provided information from the Tennessee Attorney General's Office to The Oak Ridger. How much money Anderson County receives as its part of the settlement, the document states, will depend on "the impact of the opioid crisis and population."

Yeager stated he did not know how much the county will receive but should know by January 2022.

All county commissioners voted to approve the resolution, except for Chuck Fritts of the Claxton community, who abstained.

Ben Pounds is a staff reporter for The Oak Ridger. Call him at (865) 441-2317, email him at bpounds@oakridger.com and follow him on Twitter @Bpoundsjournal.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Anderson County takes steps toward getting opioid settlement