Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced that Kentucky would receive nearly $200 million after two settlements with CVS and Walgreens for their role in the opioid epidemic.
According to the agreements publicized Friday, CVS will pay $94 million over the next 10 years and Walgreens will pay $102 million for the next 15 to the state of Kentucky, with payments beginning in the middle of 2023.
Of the $197 million acquired, the funds will be evenly distributed between local governments and the state government in accordance with Kentucky state House Bill 427.
The two companies' pharmacy divisions will further be required to monitor, report and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions with authorities.
"Our office is vigorously working to end the opioid crisis, and this $197 settlement with CVS and Walgreens is the latest example of our efforts," said Cameron, a Republican running for Kentucky governor next year.
"This is the third nationwide settlement we've reached this month, and our hope is that the more than $842 million we have brought to the Commonwealth this year will advance our work to meaningfully address the opioid epidemic in Kentucky," he added.
It comes after Cameron's office recently agreed to a $53 million deal with Walmart for its role in the crisis. The massive pharmacy and retailer has dished out over $3 billion in settlements to states and localities during the past several months.
Walmart maintained in a Dec. 20 statement that the move was "in the best interest of all parties and will provide significant aid to communities across the country" and should not be misconstrued as an admission of guilt.
Cameron also revealed last week that settlements with pharmaceutical manufacturers Allergan and Teva worth up to $114 million were closed in on, according to a press release.
The plan currently details that Kentucky will receive $71 million across 13 years from Teva and more than $42 million across seven years from Allergan beginning in mid-2023.
"In addition to payments, the settlements strictly limit Teva and Allergan's marketing, promotion, sale and distribution of opioids," the release detailed. "The settlements also require the companies to make public millions of internal documents they produced in the litigation."
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