Citizen Portal
Sign In

Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!

Get email alerts on the Litigation topic

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

County signs on to proposed remnant-defendant opioid settlement; share expected to be modest

Grand Forks County Commission · April 8, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

The commission authorized participation in a one-time nationwide remnant-defendant opioid settlement (combined $97,625,000) that allocates proceeds to participating political subdivisions only; county counsel estimated Grand Forks County's share would be small and recommended acceptance, which the board approved unanimously.

County counsel briefed the commission on a proposed one-time nationwide settlement totaling $97,625,000 with a set of smaller distributor defendants (the "remnant defendants") in the opioid multidistrict litigation. Counsel noted this settlement differs from prior deals because the state will not receive a share and funds are limited to political subdivisions that litigated the case.

The settlement covers several defendants named in the transcript (Associated Pharmacies Incorporated; American Associated Pharmacies; J.M. Smith Corporation; Louisiana Wholesale Drug Company; Morris & Dickson Company; North Carolina Mutual Wholesale Drug Company; and United Natural Foods Incorporated and affiliated subsidiaries). Counsel said the county’s likely share would be small — perhaps in the low five figures — because the total is split nationwide. The settlement is a one-time payment rather than a multi-year stream.

Counsel recommended accepting the participation agreement; the commission authorized the chair to sign the county’s participation agreement. The motion passed unanimously.