Indiana’s $507M opioid settlement money to be cut in half due to local governments opting out

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The $507 million awarded to Indiana from the $26 billion national settlement with opioid manufacturers will be cut in half due to local cities and counties opting out of the settlement money.

Richard Shevitz — an attorney with Cohen & Malad, the firm representing the city of Indianapolis and other cities and counties in their own independent lawsuits against opioid manufacturers –says the state will likely get $269 million in settlement money because over 56% of the state has chosen to opt out.

When I-Team 8 spoke with Shevitz last month, he pointed how large amounts of settlement money have been handled by the state in the past. For example, the majority of the money from the Tobacco Master Settlement in 1998 was not used toward tobacco-related programs.

In the case of the opioid settlement, the state would control 85% of the money, while local cities and counties only control 15%. The lack of trust in the state’s management of the money, Shevitz says, is the reason local governments are opting out.

“We’ve encountered where jail populations have expanded, there have been stories where coroner’s offices had to rent out temporary facilities just to house the bodies because they couldn’t get to them in time or hire additional staff,” says Shevitz. “So I think the value is getting the money in the hands of the local community and allowing them to make the tough decisions.” 

Shevitz says there’s been conversations on new provisions so that local governments would have more control of the settlement money, but those conversations have been unsuccessful.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita sent this statement: “This $507 million settlement for the state of Indiana marks a massive step forward in our efforts to end the opioid epidemic and provide justice to countless Hoosier families torn apart by this crisis.”