Fighting the Opioid Epidemic in Minnesota

The Opioid Crisis in Minnesota

Minnesotans have suffered tremendously from the opioid epidemic. Opioid overdose deaths have increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Preliminary reports show 654 opioid-involved deaths in Minnesota in 2020, a 59% increase from 2019.

Additional data on the opioid epidemic in Minnesota can be found on Minnesota Department of Health’s opioid dashboard, located here. The dashboard contains detailed information on overdose deaths, opioid-related hospital visits, the number of opioid prescriptions dispensed, the prevalence of substance use disorder, and more. It also includes links to sources where some of the above-referenced data can be tracked on a county-level.

The National Opioid Settlements

On August 20, 2021, the Attorney General’s Office joined historic $26 billion multistate settlement agreements with pharmaceutical distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen, and opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson. The settlements received final approval from the companies on February 25, 2022. The parties to these settlements are states and cities and counties. Tribal nations negotiated their own separate settlements. Additional information on the settlements can be found here and here. Additional information on the tribal settlements can be found here. The settlement agreements resolve investigations into the companies’ roles in distributing and marketing opioids.  Minnesota’s share of the settlements is more than $300 million.

On December 6, 2021 the Attorney General’s Office announced an agreement with Minnesota cities and counties on how funds from these settlements will be allocated:  75% to counties and cities that sign on, and 25% to the State, to be spent on opioid abatement. On May 6, 2022, the Opioids Settlement Funds Bill passed in both houses of the Legislature, implementing Minnesota’s state and local agreement and ensuring that funds will be properly allocated and that Minnesota will receive its full share of resources to fight the epidemic. On July 20, 2022 the Ramsey County District Court entered Consent Judgments, finalizing the two settlements. Estimated payments to cities and counties from the opioid settlements are listed here.

Below are copies of the MN State-Local Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), the settlements, as well as additional documents and information concerning these historic deals. 

• September 28, 2021 Notice to Local Governments
• December 8, 2021 Letter from Attorney General Keith Ellison
• Minnesota Opioids State-Subdivision Memorandum of Agreement
  • Memorandum of Agreement - Reporting and Compliance Addendum
• Distributor Consent Judgment and Settlement Agreement
• Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) Consent Judgment and Settlement Agreement
• Executive Summary
• Settlement One-Pager
• FAQs
• Payment Amounts to Cities and Counties

On July 27, 2022 and July 29, 2022, the Attorney General’s Office announced tentative multistate agreements with major opioid manufacturers Teva Pharmaceuticals and Allergan worth up to a combined $6.6 billion. The final terms of the settlements have not been reached, and this webpage will be updated as additional information becomes available.  The Teva and Allergan settlement funds will be in addition to the Distributors and Johnson & Johnson payments.  

On August 17, 2022, the Attorney General’s Office announced a $450 million settlement in principle with opioid manufacturer Endo.  As part of the settlement, Endo entered bankruptcy and will pay Minnesota and other states upon emergence from bankruptcy.  In addition to the payments, Endo will be permanently banned from marketing opioids and will turn over millions of opioid-related documents for publication in an online document archive.  Additional information about the bankruptcy including copies of court filings and information about the claims process is available here.    

Contact Information

If you have questions about the settlements or any other opioid-related issues, please send an email to opioids@ag.state.mn.us to contact the following attorneys in the Attorney General’s Office:

• James Canaday, Deputy Attorney General
• Eric Maloney, Assistant Attorney General
• Evan Romanoff, Assistant Attorney General

You can also call the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office Opioid Issues phone line at (612) 429-7126 and leave a message regarding any questions you have or any additional information you would like. One of the attorneys listed above will get back to you.