Home Virginia gets $108M in settlement to prevent opioid addiction at the local level
Health, Politics, Public Safety, Virginia

Virginia gets $108M in settlement to prevent opioid addiction at the local level

Rebecca Barnabi
opioid crisis
Photo Credit: Robert Wilson

Attorney General Jason Miyares announced yesterday that Virginia has received another round of payments from settlements with opioid manufacturers, major pharmaceutical distributors and retail pharmacy chains totaling approximately $108.4 million.

Shares in this round of payments will be allocated to the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Opioid Abatement Authority and localities.

“Thanks to the unwavering dedication of my Consumer Protection team, Virginia just received over $100 million in opioid settlement funds that will enable us to more effectively prevent, reduce and treat addiction at a localized level,” Miyares said.

The approximate amounts received from each settlement in this round of disbursements:

  • Teva: $6.346 million
  • Allergan: $7.033 million
  • CVS: $7.831 million
  • Walgreens: $15.155 million
  • Walmart: $61.621 million
  • Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen): $5.219 million
  • Cardinal Health: $5.243 million

Cencora and Cardinal Health, two major pharmaceutical distributors, began sending opioid settlement payments to Virginia in 2022. Cencora and Cardinal Health elected to exercise an option in the distributors settlement that allows them to prepay their settlement installments scheduled for 2027 at a discount in 2024.

Drug manufacturers Teva and Allergan, as well as retail pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, settled with Virginia in 2023. Yesterday’s announcement is the first payments received from the settlements.

The approximate allocation of funds received:

  • Commonwealth of Virginia: $16.992 million
  • Opioid Abatement Authority: $59.178 million
  • Localities: $32.279 million

The Opioid Abatement Authority is the entity responsible for distributing opioid settlement funds to localities and state agencies on a grant-application basis. Virginia has secured more than $1.1 billion in opioid settlement funds.

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca J. Barnabi is the national editor of Augusta Free Press. A graduate of the University of Mary Washington, she began her journalism career at The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star. In 2013, she was awarded first place for feature writing in the Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia Awards Program, and was honored by the Virginia School Boards Association’s 2019 Media Honor Roll Program for her coverage of Waynesboro Schools. Her background in newspapers includes writing about features, local government, education and the arts.