City, county may partner to spend over $2 million from opioid case payout

CASPER, Wyo. — The City of Casper and the Natrona County Commission are in the early stages of a partnership to decide how to spend over $2 million of settlement money from litigation related to the opioid crisis.

The Casper City Council discussed the plan at a regularly scheduled work session on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

In 2021, nationwide settlements were reached in litigation brought by states and local governments against Janssen Pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen for impacts related to the over-prescription of medications like oxycodone and hydrocodone, which led to widespread misuse of both prescription and non-prescription opioids.

As of June, about $15 million had been distributed to Wyoming, 65% of which went directly to local governments.

City Attorney Eric Nelson said that Casper had recently received a second round of funding, bringing Casper’s payout so far up to about $1.2 million. He said the county had received roughly the same amount.

City Manager Carter Napier explained that the likely model for the task force would be two members of the City Council and two members of the commission, along with a fifth stakeholder.

The task force would invite proposals from community organizations with plans to intervene in the ongoing crisis. Napier added that more payouts are likely as more companies in the opioid supply chain get added to the case, but it’s unclear how much will come and when.

A formal agreement is expected to come before the council in the following months.