Mille Lacs County Opioid Settlement

On August 20, 2021, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office joined the historic $26 billion multi-state settlement agreements with pharmaceutical distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen, and opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson. This settlement is structured over 18 years and will bring $1,920,498.69 to Mille Lacs County. A second wave of settlements involving Teva, Allergan, Walgreens, Walmart, and CVS is currently in litigation. The anticipated amount for this 15-year settlement will be $1,563,194.90.

Mille Lacs County’s expected total settlement award is $3,483,693.59

For more detailed background on the multi-district litigation (MDL), visit the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office – Fighting the Opioid Epidemic

Nonfatal Drug Overdose Dashboard - MN Dept. of Health (state.mn.us)

Opioid Data

The Minnesota Department of Health dashboard contains detailed information on overdose deaths, opioid-related hospital visits, the number of opioid prescriptions dispensed, the prevalence of substance use disorder, and more.

Opioid data for the State of Minnesota: 

https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/opioids/opioid-dashboard/index.html

Opioid data for Mille Lacs County: https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/opioids/countyprofiles/millelacs.html

Community Survey 

Thank you for your input on how we can best serve this community with our Opioid Settlement funds. Please click the link below to review our survey results. 

Opioid Settlement Community Survey Results

Minnesota Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Agreement

According to the Minnesota Opioids State-Subdivision Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), the Public Health departments shall serve as the lead agency and Chief Strategist to identify, collaborate, and respond to local issues as Local Governments decide how to leverage and disburse Opioid Settlement Funds. An Opioid Settlement Advisory Group (a multi-sector team) will advise the Mille Lacs County Board of Commissioners on how to spend the funds effectively, efficiently, and equitably.

Request for Proposal

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health developed these five principles to ensure proper spending of opioid litigation funds.

Principle 1 - Spend the money to save lives.

Principle 2 - Use evidence to guide spending.

Principle 3 - Invest in youth prevention.

Principle 4 - Focus on racial equity.

Principle 5 - Develop a fair and transparent process for deciding where to spend the funding.

RFP Process: A Request for Proposal will be posted on this site on Tuesday, August 1, 2023. This RFP aims to identify organizations to respond to the opioid crisis by utilizing strategies in prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and criminal justice. Proposals will be reviewed quarterly by the Advisory Group, and if accepted will be presented to the County Board of Commissioners for final approval. Notification will be sent to grantees after the County Board meeting. Any applications received after the due date will be reviewed the following quarter.  

Required Documents:

RFP Budget Form (PDF)

Opioid Settlement Funding Request Fillable Form (PDF)

Informational Documents: 

RFP Budget Instructions (PDF) 

Applicant Score Sheet (PDF)

*Note- the RFP does require a narrative on community input. Please review the community survey results when completing this section. Community survey results will be posted on the Mille Lacs County Opioid page the week of August 14^th (after the county fair surveys are finalized).

Please email completed RFP documents to opioids@millelacs.mn.gov

Questions? Email opioids@millelacs.mn.gov

Opioid Settlement funds must be directed to support the Mille Lacs County Community