Baltimore to receive $80 million in opioid settlement with Walgreens

BALTIMORE -- Baltimore City has won $80 million in a settlement with Walgreens, after claims that the pharmacy chain helped fuel the opioid epidemic in Baltimore. 

In the agreement, Walgreens will pay $45 million by the end of this calendar year and the remainder by December 31, 2025. 

Baltimore leaders said the city would be using the entirety of the settlement for opioid remediation, with $2 million for the Maryland Peer Advisory Council, $1 million for We Our Us, $1 million for On Our Own of Maryland, $1 million for the Maryland Coalition of Families, $15 million for the city to establish comprehensive outreach services that operate 24/7, $5 million for 988 education and outreach, and $10 million for Baltimore Comprehensive Overdose Response to End the Epidemic (BCORE). 

The settlement brings the city's total recoveries from opioid settlements to $402.5 million. 

Baltimore also settled with CVS and Allergan for $45 million, Cardinal Health for $152.5 million, and Teva for $80 million. 

A case against Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen is set to head to trial next week.

"The reality is, addressing the opioid epidemic requires an enormous amount of resources and through this litigation, our outside counsel and Law Department have begun to provide that. As we approach the beginning of trial, it is time to finish the job against the remaining defendants and begin using this money to support and grow the work we've already been doing to tackle the opioid epidemic where it can do the most good," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said.  

In August, Scott signed an executive order establishing the Baltimore City Opioid Restitution Fund. The order also created two new city positions to oversee the use of settlement money, established a community advisory board, and required the city to publish an overdose reduction strategy.

Substance abuse treatment centers, including Tuerk House, Inc., Helping Up Mission, Baltimore Safe Haven, HOPE Safe Haven, More Than a Shop, Marian House, and Turnaround Tuesday, are among the settlement funding recipients.