Baltimore wins another $45 million from a drug company in opioid litigation

Naloxone, a fast-acting drug that can be used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images.

Baltimore has reached a second $45 million settlement in its lawsuit against multiple pharmaceutical companies and drug stores for their part in the city’s opioid crisis.

The agreement Friday with CVS comes two months after the city reached a similar agreement with Allergan Finance in June. That company was given 30 days to pay the $45 million settlement to the city; the agreement with CVS gives it until the end of the year to complete the payment.

“These companies targeted Baltimore and decided profits were more important than the health and safety of the people of this City. We are fully committed to ensuring that these companies pay their fair share to repair the damage they’ve done to our neighborhoods and families,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in a press release announcing the agreement.

CVS denies any wrongdoing in the settlement, which has resolved all city claims against the drug chain, said Michael Deangelis, the executive director of corporate communications for CVS.

“CVS will no longer be a defendant in the city’s opioid distribution lawsuit that is scheduled for trial in September 2024. Putting these claims behind us is in the best interest of all parties and the agreement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing,” Deangelis said in a statement to Maryland Matters.

Allergan and CVS accounted for only a small portion of the opioids distributed in Baltimore from 2006 to 2014, according to the city’s lawsuit, with each company making up “ less than half a percent ” of the market.

Baltimore City Solicitor Ebony Thompson said in the press release that litigation will continue against seven other companies targeted in the city’s suit.

“We have built an overwhelming case against the opioid companies, and we will continue to move litigation forward to trial against any defendant that is unwilling to recognize their own role in driving this crisis and the significant resources this City needs to combat the consequences of their decisions,” Thompson said.

City officials said that with the two settlements so far, they have already recovered as much as they could have received under “all available global settlements” between drug makers and state and local governments.

Under a settlement announced by the state in late February, Maryland is scheduled to receive a total of $238 million to distribute over several years among counties affected by the opioid crisis, according to an official statement from Maryland’s Attorney General Anthony Brown.

City officials said their strategy of going their own way has proved successful.

Under Friday’s agreement, $12 million of the $45 million from CVS is already dedicated: $5 million will go to the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, which trains police to handle drug-use incidents without arrest; $5 million will go to community advocacy organization Healing City Baltimore; $1 million will go to Roberta’s House, a family grief support center; and $1 million will go to Prison Cells to PhD, a community reintegration organization.

The Allergan settlement dedicates $10 million of the $45 total: $5 million to a Baltimore harm reduction organization called Charm City Care Connection and another $5 million to the Peer Navigators Program, a library-based program focused on helping those facing drug addictions.

Anne Langley, the executive director of Charm City Care Connection, said her organization is already in conversation with the city for delivery of the Allergan funds.

“We’re having regular conversations with the city, we’re talking about all the things we can do and just how we’re going to make it happen. It’s moving quickly,” Langley said.

She couldn’t speak in depth on the settlement because of the sensitivity of the situation, however, she said the organization was excited to find out that it had been included as a recipient of some of the city’s award.

The remaining $68 million in the settlements has not been dedicated. Distribution of that share will be overseen by Sara Whaley, the program manager of the Bloomberg Overdose Prevention Initiative at Johns Hopkins University. Whaley will serve an “advisory role” overseeing the funds, according to the city’s press release.