Henrico to receive first payment from opioid manufacturer as part of settlement

Henrico County soon will receive just more than $46,000 as part of the first payment from opioid manufacturer Mallinckrodt to Virginia, which the state will receive this week. The company’s initial $3.488 million payment will be divided three ways, with the state receiving just more than $523,000, the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority receiving $1.918 million, and localities splitting just more than $1 million.

Henrico will receive about 4.47% of the latter amount, or $46,813.67.

This payment from Mallinckrodt is the first from an expected $24.6 million during the next eight years, assuming Mallinckrodt does not prepay the settlement. Should it opt to do that in the next 18 months, Virginia would receive about $17 million instead. That decision, though, doesn’t impact this week’s initial payment.

“At the Office of Attorney General, we will continue to pursue important settlement funding for the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. “Securing and executing multi-million dollar settlements will significantly impact Virginia’s fight against the opioid epidemic.”

In February 2020, Mallinckrodt reached a $1.6-billion settlement agreement with 40 states, including Virginia (and then-Attorney General Mark Herring), in exchange for being absolved from potential opioid-related lawsuits. The company is the largest generic opioid manufacturer in the United States.