Opioid Lawsuits: What A Settlement Could Mean For California

More than 2,000 of the lawsuits aiming to hold drug makers, pharmacies and distributors accountable for the thousands of deaths now attributed to opioid overdoses were consolidated into what is considered a landmark case in Ohio federal court. Numerous other cases are also weeding their way through courts around the country.

Judge Dan Aaron Polster — the federal judge overseeing the proposed negotiations in the landmark case in Ohio — has encouraged parties to settle the case. Just this week, Polster approved the formation of an entity that gives every U.S. city and county a stake in any settlement that may be reached with a defendant.

Many state attorneys general were against Polster’s decision, fearing that their state-level cases would be undermined. In his opinion approving the so-called negotiating class, Polster wrote that the process does not interfere with states settling their own cases in any way that they want.

What the payout from any of the defendants will ultimately be and how many separate and consolidated cases it will involve remains unknown.

Based on a formula created by the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, though, any cities and counties that choose to participate in the newly certified settlement process would receive a payout based on how much harm they suffered at the expense of the opioid crisis.

Per capita, the state of California would receive roughly $1.66 per person of every hypothetical $1 billion that is part of a settlement.

• Alameda County: Total Allocation Value: $2,240,769; Per Capita Value $1.44
• Alpine County: Total Allocation Value: $843; Per Capita Value $0.76
• Amador County: Total Allocation Value: $155,699; Per Capita Value $4.20
• Butte County: Total Allocation Value: $1,237,530; Per Capita Value $5.60
• Calaveras County: Total Allocation Value: $147,106; Per Capita Value $3.28
• Colusa County: Total Allocation Value: $40,713; Per Capita Value $1.91
• Contra Costa County: Total Allocation Value: $1,623,150; Per Capita Value $1.51
• Del Norte County: Total Allocation Value: $81,795; Per Capita Value $2.90
• El Dorado County: Total Allocation Value: $541,365; Per Capita Value $3.00
• Fresno County: Total Allocation Value: $1,538,230; Per Capita Value $1.63
• Glenn County: Total Allocation Value: $71,766; Per Capita Value $2.58
• Humboldt County: Total Allocation Value: $779,196; Per Capita Value $5.79
• Imperial County: Total Allocation Value: $284,849; Per Capita Value $1.61
• Inyo County: Total Allocation Value: $48,184; Per Capita Value $2.63
• Kern County: Total Allocation Value: $1,773,890; Per Capita Value $2.08
• Kings County: Total Allocation Value: $223,278; Per Capita Value $1.48
• Lake County: Total Allocation Value: $537,107; Per Capita Value $8.40
• Lassen County: Total Allocation Value: $216,846; Per Capita Value $6.45
• Los Angeles County: Total Allocation Value: $12,098,059; Per Capita Value $1.22
• Madera County: Total Allocation Value: $250,483; Per Capita Value $1.65
• Marin County: Total Allocation Value: $491,956; Per Capita Value $1.92
• Mariposa County: Total Allocation Value: $52,812; Per Capita Value $2.95
• Mendocino County: Total Allocation Value: $315,358; Per Capita Value $3.61
• Merced County: Total Allocation Value: $416,720; Per Capita Value $1.60
• Modoc County: Total Allocation Value: $42,797; Per Capita Value $4.57
• Mono County: Total Allocation Value: $17,440; Per Capita Value $1.22
• Monterey County: Total Allocation Value: $707,906; Per Capita Value $1.67
• Napa County: Total Allocation Value: $247,081; Per Capita Value $1.78
• Nevada County: Total Allocation Value: $296,634; Per Capita Value $3.02
• Orange County: Total Allocation Value: $4,622,745; Per Capita Value $1.50
• Placer County: Total Allocation Value: $855,965; Per Capita Value $2.38
• Plumas County: Total Allocation Value: $129,525; Per Capita Value $6.69
• Riverside County: Total Allocation Value: $3,645,757; Per Capita Value $1.61
• Sacramento County: Total Allocation Value: $3,032,025; Per Capita Value $2.10
• San Benito County: Total Allocation Value: $83,934; Per Capita Value $1.48
• San Bernardino County: Total Allocation Value: $2,693,606; Per Capita Value $1.30
• San Diego County: Total Allocation Value: $5,644,483; Per Capita Value $1.78
• San Francisco County: Total Allocation Value: $1,896,197; Per Capita Value $2.29
• San Joaquin County: Total Allocation Value: $1,384,805; Per Capita Value $1.98
• San Luis Obispo County: Total Allocation Value: $656,179; Per Capita Value $2.39
• San Mateo County: Total Allocation Value: $913,558; Per Capita Value $1.24
• Santa Barbara County: Total Allocation Value: $861,171; Per Capita Value $2.00
• Santa Clara County: Total Allocation Value: $1,895,744; Per Capita Value $1.03
• Santa Cruz County: Total Allocation Value: $642,186; Per Capita Value $2.41
• Shasta County: Total Allocation Value: $881,184; Per Capita Value $4.95
• Sierra County: Total Allocation Value: $8,966; Per Capita Value $2.92
• Siskiyou County: Total Allocation Value: $161,389; Per Capita Value $3.66
• Solano County: Total Allocation Value: $769,486; Per Capita Value $1.83
• Sonoma County: Total Allocation Value: $1,016,093; Per Capita Value $2.07
• Stanislaus County: Total Allocation Value: $1,314,275; Per Capita Value $2.52
• Sutter County: Total Allocation Value: $241,083; Per Capita Value $2.56
• Tehama County: Total Allocation Value: $148,250; Per Capita Value $2.34
• Trinity County: Total Allocation Value: $51,567; Per Capita Value $3.82
• Tulare County: Total Allocation Value: $605,384; Per Capita Value $1.35
• Tuolumne County: Total Allocation Value: $319,504; Per Capita Value $5.89
• Ventura County: Total Allocation Value: $1,612,190; Per Capita Value $1.93
• Yolo County: Total Allocation Value: $343,556; Per Capita Value $1.68
• Yuba County: Total Allocation Value: $143,635; Per Capita Value $1.97

According to the report, the county and the cities within its borders will have the opportunity to reach agreement on how the county-level allocation will be shared among them.

Read more about the settlement process.