OLIVIA — Renville County will receive $600,000 from the historic 26 billion July 2021 Johnson & Johnson national opioid settlement including Amerisource Bergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson opioid distributors.

The county will receive $454,000 from the $20.4 billion December 2022 Teva Pharmaceuticals and Allergan national settlement involving opioid distributors Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens.

Settlements will bring more than $300 million to Minnesota over the next 18 years to fight the opioid crisis.

Renville County Public Health leaders including director Sara Benson, planner Avi Sukhwal, and public health Ameri-Corps member Joy Gerdes unveiled a wide array of information at an hour-long community opioid epidemic update Tuesday. Twenty-seven people attended the update that was broadcast online.

“More settlement funds are anticipated,” said Benson.

“I think it’s very important to be transparent about opioids,” she added.

The Opiate Epidemic Response Advisory (OERA) council raises funds from prescribers, drug manufacturers and distributors to fight the opioid crisis. while creating an advisory council to oversee funding.

Minnesota was unique in that it chose to distribute 75% of its settlement money to all 87 counties plus major cities. A formula was created to distribute funds based on population size and the opioid burden in the community. The remaining 25% of the settlement funds will go towards state settlement fees.

Principles to ensure funds are used appropriately include investing in youth prevention and creating a fair, transparent process for deciding where to spend funds.

Minnesota opioid deaths increased 43% from 2010 to 2021 and have more than doubled since 2019, according to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). There were 421 opioid-involved deaths in 2017 and 1,002 in 2022.

According to the National Institutes of Health, 80,411 Americans died of opioid-involved overdoses in 2021.

Opioid is a medication often used to treat mild to severe pain, usually from post-surgery, chronic conditions, or cancer. Opioids mimic the body’s natural painkillers, endorphins, that block the “I’m in pain” signal while triggering the release of the body’s natural “I’m happy” signal, dopamine.

Negative consequences of opioid misuse are deteriorating mental and physical health, financial issues and loss of jobs, friends or family.

Opioid pain medication produces a very big, yet short-lived reward for very little effort, which means the brain gets used to it and craves the higher reward feeling. To get the reward naturally, you’d have to do something like run marathons which require lots of effort.

The most common source of obtaining opioids is through misuse of prescribed medication.

A Renville County community survey completed by 65 individuals involved with opioid use showed most respondents were white, ages 35 to 54 and had an income of $50,000 to $100,000.

Renville County had four drug overdose deaths in 2021, three in 2022 and one in 2018 and 2019, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Brown County had four drug overdose deaths in 2021, zero in 2022 and one in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Emergency room visits for non-fatal overdose among Brown County residents increased for opioids excluding heroin from 2020 to 2021.

The Brown and Renville County opioid prescription rate has been decreasing since 2016, but is higher than the state average.

Emergency room visits for non-fatal overdose among Renville County residents have increased for opioids excluding heroin from 2019 to 2020.

Among Renville County residents admitted to substance use disorder treatment in Minnesota in 2020, methamphetamines were the primary substance used at admission, followed by alcohol.

Among Brown county residents admitted to substance use disorder treatment in Minnesota in 2020, methamphetamines and alcohol were equally the primary substance used at admission.

Renville County plans to create an internal or external advisory group to help make opioid settlement fund decisions. Plans include ensuring community members who have direct contact with the Opioid Crisis by personal journey or supporting family members who currently or have used opioids.

For more information, visit https://www.health.state.mn/us.