Catawba County to assess joining Six Remnant Defendants opioid settlement; county share estimated at about $71,200

The Catawba County Board of Commissioners authorized County Manager Mary S. Furtado to assess the county's participation in a new national opioids settlement with six regional distributor/dispensing defendants and to execute the Combined Subdivision Participation and Release Form if staff determines participation is appropriate.

County staff described the settlement as totaling $97,625,000 nationwide and listed the defendants as Associated Pharmacies, Inc. (and American Associated Pharmacies), J M Smith Corporation, Louisiana Wholesale Drug Company, Inc., Morris and Dickson Co., North Carolina Mutual Wholesale Drug Company, Inc., and United Natural Foods, Inc. (including subsidiaries SuperValu and Advantage Logistics). Based on the percentage presented at the meeting (0.0729457707%), staff stated a preliminary Catawba County national allocation of $71,213.31, which the record labels "not confirmed." The Combined Subdivision Participation and Release Form must be executed without alteration and submitted on or before Monday, May 4, 2026, to be included in initial participation calculations.

Vice-Chair Austin Allran moved to authorize the County Manager to assess the viability of participating, execute documents necessary to join the Six Remnant Defendants Settlement, and provide documents needed to facilitate the settlement; the motion carried unanimously. The county said these funds, if received, would be used for opioid abatement and remediation activities consistent with the county's 2021 North Carolina Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). Staff said there is no spending deadline associated with these funds.