Overview

• In June, Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill ruled the $266 million jury verdict grossly excessive and offered Baltimore about $52 million in damages plus $100 million for abatement to avoid a new trial
• Baltimore’s Law Department and Mayor Brandon Scott opted on August 14 to take the reduced award, securing $152 million without further litigation
• The settlement raises the city’s total recoveries from opioid distributors and prior agreements to roughly $579.8 million for remediation efforts
• The lawsuit accused McKesson and AmerisourceBergen of supplying about 60 percent of opioids dispensed in Baltimore and Baltimore County from 2006 to 2019 and failing to flag suspicious pharmacy orders
• City leaders say the funds will bolster the Opioid Restitution Fund and support an overdose response strategy established under the mayor’s executive order