The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
Iowa could receive up to $5.4 million in opioid settlement funds after drugmakers settled a lawsuit with attorneys general from across the country.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced on Thursday that the state will receive more opioid settlement funds from a $720 million settlement with eight opioid manufacturers.
“This financial settlement is a win because Iowa will use the funds to continue the fight against opioid addiction,” Bird said in a statement. “However, the true victory is that these companies are prohibited from promoting and marketing the products that have taken lives and changed families forever.”
This settlement comes roughly a month after Bird
announced $37.8 million in opioid settlement funds
coming to the state after Iowa, alongside 54 other attorneys general, signed onto a $7.4 billion settlement agreement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler Family, resolving thousands of opioid lawsuits nationwide.
The most recent settlements also will allow states to receive pharmaceutical products treating opioid overdoses or opioid use disorder. States can elect to receive cash in lieu of those pharmaceutical products.
The companies that will pay in funds to address the opioid crisis as part of the deal are:
- Mylan (now part of Viatris): $284,447,916 paid over nine years
- Hikma: $95,818,293 paid over one to four years
- Amneal: $71,751,010 paid over 10 years
- Apotex: $63,682,369 paid in a single year
- Indivior: $38,022,450 paid over four years
- Sun: $30,992,087 paid over one to four years
- Alvogen: $18,680,162 paid in a single year
- Zydus: $14,859,220 paid in a single year
All of the listed companies, except for Indivior, also are prohibited from promoting or marketing opioids and opioid products or making or selling any product that contains more than 40 mg of oxycodone per pill, and are required to put in place a monitoring and reporting system for suspicious orders.
Indivior has agreed to not manufacture or sell opioid products for the next 10 years, but it will be able to continue marketing and selling medications to treat opioid use disorder.
Other states involved in settlement negotiations are North Carolina, California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia.
In May, Iowa state lawmakers
agreed on a spending plan to distribute $56 million
in opioid settlement funds after three years of failing to advance legislation. The funds will be split between the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services and the state Attorney General’s Office to put toward opioid addiction treatment, prevention and recovery.
Reynolds appoints associate judge for Iowa Judicial District 8A
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynold appointed Jennifer Nicole Jensen, of Knoxville, as the district associate judge for Iowa Judicial District 8A to fill the vacancy created by Judge Rose Anne Mefford’s retirement.
Jensen received her undergraduate degree from Boise State University and law degree from Drake University Law School. She currently serves as an assistant state public defender.
Interviews for the position took place in Wapello in June. Other candidates who applied for the position included Poweshiek County Attorney Bart Kendall Klaver and Assistant Mahaska County Attorney Terri Alayne Menninga.
Iowa Judicial District 8A includes Appanoose, Davis, Jefferson, Keokuk, Mahaska, Monroe, Poweshiek, Van Buren, Wapello and Washington counties.
Iowa partners with nonprofit for high-achieving math students
The Iowa Department of Education will be partnering with a national nonprofit that supports students with high math scores to provide mentoring and STEM education.
Iowa’s partnership with National Math Stars was announced on Monday. The program supports third-graders who scored in the top 2 percent on the mathematics Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress this spring.
“Following the enactment of Governor Reynolds’ comprehensive Math Counts Act, we are proud to be the first state in the nation to provide mathematically extraordinary students the opportunity to receive these transformational supports,” Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow said in a statement. “Through this groundbreaking partnership, Iowa’s National Math Stars will start as rising fourth-graders in a fully funded program tailored to their strengths and interests through twelfth grade.”
Iowa math scores fell last year, from 7th to 30th in the nation in fourth grade and 15th to 23rd in the nation in eighth grade, according to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress.
In June, Reynolds
signed her proposal to improve math education in the state
, which will establish a new math instruction model, including early screening and intervention for students who are struggling in the class.
Identified students will have access to a number of supports to further their math education, including a family adviser, free weekly math mentoring, advanced technology and educational resources, pathway exploration and counseling, STEM summer experiences, family and community events, and more.
The department identified 764 students from 295 schools across the state who are eligible to apply for the program, 709 of which attend public schools. More than 56 percent of families and students applied by the June 15 deadline, according to the department. Recipients will be publicly announced on Aug. 15.
Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau
