The Colony would sign onto a national opioid settlement with grocery and pharmacy chain Albertsons Companies under a resolution on the City Council's consent agenda for Wednesday, Nov. 4.
The resolution would authorize the mayor, city manager, city secretary and staff to sign a subdivision participation and release form and any other documents the settlement requires. Consent items are typically approved together in one vote unless a council member pulls one for discussion. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 6053 Main St.
What the settlement covers
Texas was part of a coalition of states that reached the agreement, which once final would require Albertsons to pay more than $773 million nationwide, according to the Texas Attorney General's Office. Texas and its cities and counties are eligible for up to $57.8 million for opioid abatement.
The attorney general's office has urged eligible local governments to sign on, saying joining lets them receive direct payments and abatement grants from the Texas Opioid Council, which oversees money from statewide opioid settlements. Information on signing comes from the National Opioid Settlement Administrator, the office said.
Albertsons announced in April that it had reached a $774 million settlement to resolve all opioid-related claims, Bloomberg reported at the time, with payments to be made over nine years. The company recorded a charge of about $600 million after taxes for the settlement.
Retailers with pharmacies faced thousands of lawsuits accusing them of failing to properly monitor opioid prescriptions; CVS, Walmart, Walgreens and Kroger reached their own settlements in earlier years. The agenda packet does not include an estimate of what The Colony would receive.
