LTTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced she would direct restricted opioid settlement dollars totaling over $140 million to the general revenue in anticipation of the upcoming 94th General Assembly in January 2023. The settlement funds allocated to Arkansas are a result of Rutledge’s long-fought legal battles with opioid manufacturers and distributors.
“Arkansas has been a national leader in our multifaceted approach to this epidemic and we have made tremendous strides in the last eight years, but we must get these funds to the Legislature where the money will be used to help Arkansans in desperate need of resources to combat this epidemic,” said Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. “Arkansas is anticipating almost one-half billion dollars to come to the state. Arkansans combating addiction must have access to affordable treatment options in every corner of our State and the General Assembly is best equipped to ensure the needs of their respective communities are met.”
In early 2017, Attorney General Rutledge took an aggressive approach to protecting Arkansans and combating the epidemic by suing manufacturers Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma, and Endo Pharmaceuticals for violations of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (ADTPA), public nuisance, unjust enrichment, civil conspiracy, and the Arkansas Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act. She also filed a lawsuit against distributors Cardinal Health, McKesson Corporation, and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation for violations of the ADTPA, negligence, creation of a public nuisance, and being unjustly enriched by their business practices. This litigation was settled in early 2022.
Rutledge has settled or is in the process of settling with: CVS Health Corporation, Walgreens, McKinsey, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Walmart, and Mallinckrodt for their contributions to the opioid epidemic.
About Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
Leslie Carol Rutledge is the 56th Attorney General of Arkansas. Elected on November 4, 2014, and sworn in on January 13, 2015, she is the first woman and first Republican in Arkansas history to be elected as Attorney General. She was resoundingly re-elected on November 6, 2018. Since taking office, she has significantly increased the number of arrests and convictions against online predators who exploit children and con artists who steal taxpayer money through Social Security Disability and Medicaid fraud. Further, she has held Rutledge Roundtable meetings and Mobile Office hours in every county of the State each year, and launched a Military and Veterans Initiative. She has led efforts to roll back government regulations that hurt job creators, fight the opioid epidemic, teach internet safety, combat domestic violence and make the office the top law firm for Arkansans. Rutledge serves on committees for Consumer Protection, Criminal Law and Veterans Affairs for the National Association of Attorneys General. She also served as the former Chairwoman of the Republican Attorneys General Association.
A native of Batesville, she is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. Rutledge clerked for the Arkansas Court of Appeals, was Deputy Counsel for former Governor Mike Huckabee, served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Lonoke County and was an Attorney at the Department of Human Services before serving as Counsel at the Republican National Committee. Rutledge and her husband, Boyce, have one daughter. The family has a home in Pulaski County and a farm in Crittenden County.