The City of Youngstown is expected to seek a share of the $26 billion nationwide settlement with the three largest distributors of opioids.

Youngstown City Council has scheduled a special noon meeting on Thursday to consider accepting the Memorandum of Understanding between the State of Ohio and the three largest distributors of opioids and Johnson & Johnson for their roles in the opioid epidemic.

The council meeting will be immediately followed by a Board of Control meeting to also approve the measure that would use any funds to help abate opioid abuse in the city.

Several other Valley communities have already approved participation in the agreement.

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.

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.