Casper Agrees to Over $2 Million in Opioid Settlement Case

At the Casper city council meeting on Dec. 7, following an executive session, the council voted to approve a settlement reached in a case against manufacturers of opioids and their impact on people across the country.

Get our free mobile app

While some of the litigation is still ongoing, John Henely, Casper's city attorney, said he believes the city should be able to get around $2,484,300 from the settlement, which will be given out over the course of 18 years, or 138,016.67 per year, and it can only be spent to help alleviate the problems caused by the opioid epidemic.

Henely said that Wyoming would receive $52 million over 18 years, with 35% of that being retained by the state while 65%, or $33,800,000, will go to the counties and participating municipalities.

Because the settlement will be given out to nearly every state in the U.S., many have passed laws to help dole out the money received in the various settlements.

The case itself has been ongoing for years, with settlements reaching as far back as 2015 when Kentucky settled with Purdue for $24 million, to be paid out over eight years, though years later there are still issues being raised about the settlement.

Since 2015, there have been almost 900,000 deaths due to all types of opioids, with 2020 alone having over 93,000 opioid deaths.

While Casper has been provided with a list of potential opioid abatement strategies, Henley said at this time he is not able to release that information publically and has not yet said when he would be able to share.