Millions of additional dollars are expected to go toward treating and preventing opioid addiction after a judge ordered Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, to pay $5.5 billion for its role in fueling the opioid crisis.
The penalties stem from the company’s 2020 guilty plea to charges that it misled federal regulators and paid kickbacks to doctors to boost opioid sales. The sentencing, handed down in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, clears the way for Purdue to be dissolved through bankruptcy, with its assets helping fund a broader $7.4 billion settlement.
The settlement will be distributed across 55 states and territories, with larger shares going to more populated states and those hardest hit by the crisis. That includes more than $440 million for California, $286.6 million for Texas, $250 million for New York and more than $200 million for Pennsylvania.
Midwestern states are expected to receive significantly smaller amounts.
In South Dakota, Attorney General Marty Jackley said the state is projected to receive about $10.1 million over the next 15 years.
“We have an extraordinary opportunity to directly hit addiction with a sledgehammer, and I encourage all efforts to do just that for our families struggling with addiction across our State,” Jackley said.
Those funds will be placed in the National Opioid Settlement Fund, administered by the South Dakota Department of Social Services. With this latest agreement, South Dakota has secured roughly $100 million in total opioid-related settlements, which should be used for treatment, prevention and recovery programs.
Minnesota is expected to receive about $59 million, according to Attorney General Keith Ellison. Including this agreement, Minnesota has now reached 21 opioid-related settlements totaling approximately $633 million.
Under a 2022 state law, all settlement funds must go toward treatment, remediation and prevention. A separate 2021 agreement directs 75 percent of the money to cities and counties, with the remaining 25 percent going to the state.
“Although Purdue was a relatively small pharmaceutical company, their blockbuster drug OxyContin alone held more than a one-quarter share of the opioid market for a decade — and the Sacklers’ personal profits of it were obscene,” Ellison said. “They knew what they were doing, and they did it anyway.”
Other Midwest states are also set to receive funding:
- North Dakota: $8.7 million
- Nebraska: $19.7 million
- Iowa: $37.8 million
- Missouri: more than $91.3 million
Most of the settlement money is expected to be distributed within the first three years.
Opioid settlement funds are meant to support efforts to treat addiction, prevent misuse and reduce the impact of the opioid crisis. But in some areas, the money isn’t being spent, or isn’t being spent as intended.
According to Investigative Post, five of Erie County, New York’s largest municipalities have used less than half of the $417,990 they’ve received from the state over the past three years to address opioid addiction. During that same time, at least 386 people in those communities died from overdoses.
In the City of Lackawanna, the news agency reports that most of the settlement money has been spent, but on equipment that has little or nothing to do with combating opioid addiction.
In an upcoming episode of the Grieving Out Loud podcast, Emily’s Hope founder Angela Kennecke speaks with the founder of Truth Pharm, which recently released a report examining how New York is spending billions of dollars from opioid settlements. What they uncovered may surprise you.
