The Marion County Board has agreed to a settlement with another drug company involved in the opiod abuse epidemic.
State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth expects the county to receive $20,000 or more as its share of the national settlement with Purdue Laboratories. The announcement came after Hudspeth went into closed session with the county board to see if they wanted to settle as part of a group or wanted to pursue a higher settlement on their own.
The county’s funding from settlements is now over $250,000. The money can only be used to help those with a drug addiction problem. The board Monday night agreed to take $10,650 from the fund to pay for new AEDs at the courthouse and other county facilities since it was life saving equipment.
Hudspeth says there are still eight to ten more drug companies or retail outlets that have pending lawsuits against them that include Marion County over their distribution of opioids.
