Terms Used In Kansas Statutes 75-776

  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Kansas Statutes 77-201

As used in Kan. Stat. Ann. 2023 Supp. 75-775 through 75-781, and amendments thereto:

(a) “Act” means the Kansas fights addiction act.

(b) “Covered conduct” means any conduct covered by opioid litigation that resulted in payment of moneys into the Kansas fights addiction fund.

(c) “Defendant” means a defendant or putative defendant in any opioid litigation.

(d) “Moneys that are received” includes damages, penalties, attorney fees, costs, disbursements, refunds, rebates or any other monetary payment made or paid by any defendant by reason of any judgment, consent decree or settlement, after payment of any costs or fees allocated by court order.

(e) “Municipality” means the same as defined in Kan. Stat. Ann. § 75-6102, and amendments thereto.

(f) “Opioid litigation” means any civil lawsuit, demand or settlement, including any settlement in lieu of litigation, alleging unlawful conduct in the manufacturing, marketing, distribution, prescribing or other use of opioid medications and asserting or resolving claims of the state or any municipality.

(g) “Qualified applicant” means any state entity, municipality or not-for-profit private entity that provides services for the purpose of preventing, reducing, treating or otherwise abating or remediating substance abuse or addiction and that has released its legal claims arising from covered conduct against each defendant that is required by opioid litigation to pay into the fund.

(h) “State” means the state of Kansas, including any agency or official thereof.

(i) “Sunflower foundation” means the sunflower foundation: health care for Kansas, established pursuant to the settlement agreement entered into by the attorney general in the action filed by blue cross and blue shield of Kansas, inc., in the district court of Shawnee county, Kansas, case No. 97CV608.