Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced this month that more than $60 million to combat the fentanyl epidemic will soon be coming to Washington from the recent settlement with Walmart for its role fueling the opioid epidemic as a pharmacy. All eligible local governments signed onto the Attorney General’s $62.6 million resolution. The resources will be split equally between the state and local jurisdictions across the state.
This resolution is part of the $1.1 billion the Attorney General’s Office has recovered from 11 companies that fueled the opioid epidemic. Under the terms of the legally binding resolution, these resources must be used to combat the opioid epidemic, including fentanyl. Take a look at this chart to see distribution amounts. The chart includes the additional Walmart funding, 97% of which it will pay in the next few months.
Since all of the eligible local governments signed onto the resolution with Walmart, Washington is guaranteed the maximum amount of $62.6 million, distributed using the same formula as the earlier opioid distributor resolution.
Half of the money from the Walmart resolution will be paid to eligible Washington cities and counties, with the first payment to be made in the next few months. The remainder of the money goes to the state. All of this money must be used to fund opioid remediation.
As part of its resolution, Walmart will tightly monitor opioid prescriptions and prevent patients from seeking multiple prescriptions.
Washington state’s money comes from an overall $3.1 billion multistate resolution with Walmart.
Please note that AWC is facilitating the sharing of information between the AGO and cities. The information contained in these materials is for informational purposes and should not be considered legal advice.