Opioid settlement could bring millions of dollars to North Myrtle Beach, Horry County

By Ruben Lowman

North Myrtle Beach and Horry County are potentially set to receive millions of dollars as a result of a massive legal settlement between attorney generals across the country and large distributors and manufacturers of opioids. 

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced last week the final approval of the $26 billion opioid agreement with the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors – Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen – and Johnson & Johnson. According to Wilson, the pharmaceutical companies will begin paying the fees on April 2, with the funds flowing to the state’s coffers over the following months. 

“These settlements will provide much-needed financial resources which will help combat South Carolina’s opioid epidemic,” said Wilson. “My office looks forward to working with stakeholders around the state to ensure that these dollars have the greatest impact possible in each of our communities.”

The settlement does not have straightforward totals for each municipality involved and the final maximum figures will be reflective of a number of different factors. But initially, Horry County could potentially receive up to $11.89 million and North Myrtle Beach could receive up to $1.45 million. 

Wilson’s spokesperson Robert Kittle said that the figures were best-case scenario and could potentially be lower depending on the discussions that occur over the next few months. 

For example, to receive the maximum amount possible Kittle said that South Carolina must pass a law that will prevent any future lawsuits brought against the pharmaceutical companies. If there were other suits after this settlement, the amount of money the state would get would be less, Kittle said. He also wanted to stress that the money will be paid out over 18 years and would not be a big lump sum coming in all at once.

The settlement includes every state in the nation, as well as thousands of local governments across the country. In South Carolina, all 46 counties and all 43 eligible municipalities, as well as the Health Services District of Kershaw County, have signed on to the agreement. As a result, state officials expect to receive more than $300 million over the next 18 years. 

Kittle said that 92 percent of the funds will be used to “directly address the opioid crisis in South Carolina, including by spring treatment, recovery, harm reduction and other strategies.”

Additionally, Kittle said the settlement agreement is written so the funds are required to be spent on “approved abatements.” He said that this would include Naloxone, a medication used to reverse the effects of overdoses from opioids, along with addiction treatment programs and other law enforcement expenses.

City of North Myrtle Beach spokesperson Pat Dowling could not be reached for comment and Horry County officials were unsure what they plan to do with the funding.

The agreement marks the culmination of three years of negotiations to resolve more than 4,000 claims of state and local governments across the country. According to Kittle, it is the second-largest multistate agreement in U.S. history, second only to the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.

The opioid epidemic has been one that has been growing for decades now, endorsed by pharmaceutical companies in search of profits, encapsulated by this settlement. As a result, the companies will face additional requirements along with the funds. 

Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen will be required to establish a “centralized independent clearinghouse to provide all three distributors and state regulators with aggregated data and analytics about where drugs are going and how often, eliminating blind spots in the current systems used by distributors,” according to the settlement.

They will also be required to “use data-driven systems to detect suspicious opioid orders from customer pharmacies” and prohibit and report any “suspicious opioid orders.” 

Johnson & Johnson will be required to stop selling opioids altogether and quit any funding and lobbying on “activities related to opioids” or “promoting opioids.”

The settlement comes at a time when the country is experiencing mounting overdoses and first responders are being inundated with call after call. 

“As many other agencies and communities around us, we have seen an increase in medical responses involving opioids over the years,” said North Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue spokesman/fire inspector Jay Ortiz. 

He explained that NMBFR has done a great job of staying on top of the opioid epidemic with their response by updating certain guidelines and policies, but that it is still a challenge to respond to the sheer volume of calls they receive. 

“We have our own medical director and along with his guidances and guidance from our state EMS leaders we have tried to stay ahead of this crises. It has been difficult to keep up with,” Ortiz said. “The overdose calls seem to come in waves.”

Statewide, DHEC recently released a report that says there was a 59 percent increase in opioid-related overdose deaths from 876 in 2019 to 1,400 just a year later in 2020. The report also states there was a 53 percent increase in total drug overdose deaths over the same time period, rising from 1,131 to 1,734 in 2020. 

Horry County officials alleged that the crisis led to an “opioid prescription rate of 110.7 per 100 person, one of the highest in the state” in the initial 2018 lawsuit against AmerisourceBergen. County officials also stated that 101 people died of opioid overdoses in 2016, with the total rising to 131 in 2019, the most recent data available. 

Ortiz explained that, though the opioid epidemic has put a strain on the city’s emergency services, the department is fully equipped to combat the crisis and try and help as many people and save as many lives as possible. 

“For our personnel and fire department it does not matter what caused the medical emergency, we treat all patients to the best of our abilities and always try to give them the best assistance possible,” Ortiz said. “We respond to a wide variety of different types of emergencies so responding to opioid related calls is just part of what we do, just like any other call. It does not really change or impact how we operate.”