A 8459: Clarifies that certain provisions related to statewide opioid settlement agreements shall cover settlements and releases related to any entities involved in the prescription drug marketing, supply and payment chain that may have contributed to the opioid epidemic through illegal conduct.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8459 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY May 16, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SOLAGES -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to statewide opioid settlement agreements The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph 8 of subdivision (a) of section 25.18 of the 2 mental hygiene law, as amended by chapter 171 of the laws of 2022, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 8. "Statewide opioid settlement agreements" means agreements of state- 5 wide applicability entered into on or after June first, two thousand 6 twenty-one by the office of the attorney general, including but not 7 limited to consent judgments, consent decrees filed or unfiled, and 8 related agreements or documents between the state and [certain opioid 9 manufacturers, distributors, dispensers, consultants, chain pharmacies, 10 related entities, and/or the New York subdivisions, to provide remunera- 11 tion] any party, the purpose of which is to resolve claims for conduct 12 related to the manufacture, promotion, dispensing, sale, overutilization 13 and/or distribution of opioid products which are consistent with subdi- 14 vision sixteen of section sixty-three of the executive law. Copies of 15 such agreements, including any amendments thereto, shall be kept on file 16 by the attorney general, who shall make such available for inspection 17 and copying pursuant to the provisions of article six of the public 18 officers law. 19 § 2. Subdivision (d) of section 25.18 of the mental hygiene law, as 20 amended by chapter 171 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as 21 follows: 22 (d) Limitation on authority of government entities to bring lawsuits. 23 No government entity shall have the authority to assert released claims 24 against entities released by the department of law in a statewide opioid 25 settlement agreement executed by the department of law and the released EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11105-02-5 
 A. 8459 2 1 party on or after June first, two thousand twenty-one. Any action filed 2 by a government entity after June thirtieth, two thousand nineteen 3 asserting released claims against a [manufacturer, distributor, or 4 dispenser of opioid products] released party in a statewide opioid 5 settlement agreement, shall be extinguished by operation of law upon 6 being released pursuant to such statewide opioid settlement agreement. 7 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.