Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced that 50 counties, including 5 of the 6 largest counties in the Commonwealth, have agreed to join the historic opioid settlement that would bring more than $1 billion to Pennsylvania, with up to $232 million delivered in 2022.
The $26 billion global settlement with Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen—the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors—and Johnson & Johnson requires significant industry changes that will help prevent this type of crisis from happening again in addition to the funds. Pennsylvania has been one of the lead states in negotiating this settlement, which was announced in July.
While it is up to local governments who have signed on to the settlement to decide where the funds will ultimately be allocated, the settlement stipulates that every dollar of funding must be used to combat the opioid crisis. A list of approved opioid remediation uses can be found in Exhibit E of the Janssen settlement agreement. The remaining 17 counties and multiple subdivisions have until next month to sign on and are urged to do so as soon as possible.
“Continuing litigation is incredibly risky, as we’ve seen in Oklahoma where a $465 million judgement was overturned by the state Supreme Court after being on appeal for years, and in California where a number of counties and cities lost their case after seven years in court. We can’t afford to wait – we need these funds flowing into our communities now. We know no dollar amount will bring back all that we have lost, but this settlement will give communities the money to save lives now,” said AG Shapiro.
The following counties have joined the settlement agreement: Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Berks, Bradford, Bucks, Butler, Cambria, Cameron, Carbon, Chester, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Dauphin, Delaware, Elk, Erie, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Luzerne, McKean, Mercer, Mifflin, Monroe, Montgomery, Montour, Perry, Potter, Schuylkill, Snyder, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Westmoreland, and York.
UPDATE:
Bucks County will be receiving about $45 million under a global opioid settlement agreement reached with the “big three” opioid distributors and an opioid manufacturer.
The announcement was made by Bucks County solicitor Joe Kahn at the Feb. 16 commissioners meeting.
Your new post is loading...
Related Content: