AN ACT protecting national opioid settlement proceeds for north carolina and its units of local government by prohibiting the assertion of any released claims against any released entities pursuant to the final consent judgments resolving this litigation.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Chapter 122C of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:

Article 7.

Legislative Release to Protect National Opioid Settlement Payments.

§ 122C‑470.2.  Definitions.

Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this Article:

(1)        Opioid Consent Judgments means the final consent judgments, including all exhibits, resolving the following cases in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, Wake County:

a.         State of North Carolina, ex rel. Joshua H. Stein, Attorney General v. McKesson Corporation; Cardinal Health, Inc.; and AmerisourceBergen Corporation, No. 22CV4020.

b.         State of North Carolina ex rel. Joshua H. Stein, Attorney General v. Johnson & Johnson; Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Ortho‑McNeil‑Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc., No. 22CV4244.

(2)        Released Claim means any claim defined as Released Claims in the Opioid Consent Judgments.

(3)        Released Entity means any entity defined as Released Entities in the Opioid Consent Judgments, including Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Ortho‑McNeil‑Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc., McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc., and AmerisourceBergen Corporation.

(4)        State means the State of North Carolina and includes every public office, public officer or official (elected or appointed), institution, board, commission, bureau, council, department, or authority or other unit of government of the State.

(5)        Unit of Local Government means every public office, public officer or official (elected or appointed), institution, board, commission, bureau, council, department, authority or other unit of government of any county, unit, special district, or other political subdivision of government, including, but not limited to, a county; city; consolidated city‑county; local school administrative unit; community college; area mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse authority; nonprofit corporation or association operating or leasing a public hospital; public health authority; water or sewer authority; metropolitan sewerage district; sanitary district; county water and sewer district; metropolitan water district; metropolitan water and sewerage district; airport authority; airport board or commission; regional natural gas district; regional transportation authority; regional public transportation authority; ferry transportation authority; a special district created under Article 43 of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes; or any other local or regional authority, district, board, commission, or administrative unit.

§ 122C‑470.4.  Legislative findings.

The General Assembly makes the following findings:

(1)        The opioid epidemic has taken the lives of more than 20,000 North Carolinians, caused immeasurable suffering and harm, and imposed substantial costs on the State, counties, municipalities, healthcare and social service providers, residents, and others.

(2)        The epidemic was fueled by misconduct on the part of the settling opioid defendants and other companies engaged in the manufacture, marketing, promotion, distribution, or dispensing of prescription opioid medications.

(3)        The State, through its Attorney General, engaged in investigations, litigation, and settlement discussions involving defendants, and 76 counties and eight municipalities, through their counsel, filed lawsuits against defendants seeking to hold the settling defendants accountable for the damage caused by their misconduct.

(4)        On July 21, 2021, a national coalition of states and political subdivisions announced agreements with the settling opioid defendants to resolve legal claims against those companies stemming from actions that fueled the opioid epidemic.

(5)        The State, all 100 counties, and 47 municipalities in North Carolina have formally joined the agreements. On March 11, 2022, all of North Carolina's litigating counties and municipalities dismissed their lawsuits against the settling defendants. On April 6, and April 26, 2022, the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, Wake County, entered the Opioid Consent Judgments making the agreements effective in North Carolina.

(6)        The agreements provide for payments totaling twenty‑six billion dollars ($26,000,000,000) over 18 years, with more than twenty‑three billion nine hundred million dollars ($23,900,000,000) available to fund state and local efforts to address the epidemic nationwide. North Carolina's share of the payments will be distributed among the State and its Units of Local Government pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement, to which the State and more than 140 Units of Local Government have agreed. The Memorandum of Agreement was approved through the Opioid Consent Judgments and establishes the means by which payments will be distributed in North Carolina.

(7)        Pursuant to the agreements, North Carolina's share of the payments is approximately seven hundred fifty million dollars ($750,000,000) over a period of 18 years. North Carolina and its Units of Local Government can secure their entitlement to that full amount, but only if opioid litigation in North Carolina asserting Released Claims against Released Entities comes to an end with no new claims.

(8)        Newly filed Released Claims against Released Entities would frustrate the purposes of the agreements, would put North Carolina's share of the payments at risk, and would harm the people of North Carolina, all Units of Local Government, and the State.

§ 122C‑470.6.  Legislative intent.

It is the intent of this Article to prevent the assertion of Released Claims against Released Entities by the State and its Units of Local Government, and thereby to help secure, on behalf of North Carolina's Units of Local Government, the State, and the people of North Carolina, the full share to which the State, its Units of Local Government, and its people are otherwise entitled under the Opioid Consent Judgments.

§ 122C‑470.8.  Prohibition on assertion of Released Claims against Released Entities.

Neither a Unit of Local Government nor the State may assert any Released Claims against Released Entities.

§ 122C‑470.10.  Preservation of remedies.

This Article preserves all remedies the State or any Unit of Local Government may have under the Opioid Consent Judgments. Nothing in this Article shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect such remedies.

SECTION 2.  G.S. 122C‑470.8 applies to all Released Claims, as defined in G.S. 122C‑470.2, whether originally asserted before or after the effective date of this act.

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.