WARREN, Ohio - Leaders in three valley communities have scheduled meetings this week to discuss claiming a share of the $26 billion nationwide settlement with the three largest distributors of opioids and Johnson & Johnson for their roles in the opioid epidemic.

City Councils from Warren and Struthers and Boardman Township Trustees will meet to talk about the agreement announced last month by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

The settlement stems from investigations by state attorneys general into whether the three distributors fulfilled their legal duty to refuse to ship opioids to pharmacies that submitted suspicious drug orders and whether Johnson & Johnson misled patients and doctors about the addictive nature of opioid drugs.

During the second quarter of 2020 in Ohio, 11 of every 100,000 people died of an opioid overdose, the state’s highest mortality rate at any point during the epidemic.  From 2010 to 2019, opioid overdoses claimed more than 23,700 Ohioans.

The agreement resolves the claims of both states and local governments throughout the country, including the nearly 4,000 that have filed lawsuits in state and federal courts.

Warren City Council has scheduled a 3 p.m. meeting on Tuesday in council chambers to discuss participation in the settlement with McKesson Corporations, Cardinal Health, Inc., and Amerisource Bergen Corporation.

Warren Council member Helen Rucker says the city would distribute settlement money with organizations still dealing with the opioid epidemic in the city.

Boardman Trustees have scheduled a 5:30 p.m. Tuesday meeting at the Government Center to discuss the settlement.

Struthers City Council will meet in a special session at 6 p.m. Wednesday to consider a resolution to participate in the settlement.

States have 30 days from the July 27th announcement of the agreement to sign on to the deal, and local governments in the states that participate will have up to 150 days to join.

Payments will be made to states and their local governments if they collectively support the agreement, securing a critical mass of participating states and local governments.

In addition to the monetary settlement, distributors Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, and Johnson & Johnson, which manufactured and marketed opioids, must also make changes to help prevent a similar crisis from happening again.