A state panel has made its recommendations for how the first round of funding from a major $638 million settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors should be spent, backing a wide range of projects.
A pilot program in Alabama will distribute $280,000 from opioid settlement funds to support ‘grandfamilies’ formed to raise kids affected by the opioid epidemic.
Grant applications to use funding for opioid misuse prevention, treatment, addiction recovery, and harm reduction programs open online April 15. Decisions are expected after a 60-day review period, roughly fall 2024.
Some state and local governments have started tapping in to opioid settlement funds for law enforcement expenses. Many argue it should go toward treating addiction instead.
State attorneys general vowed the funds would go toward tackling the addiction crisis. But as with the tobacco payouts of the 1990s, local officials have started using them to fill budget shortfalls.
Victims of prescription opioid addiction as well as communities slammed by the opioid crisis could wind up with nothing if Mallinckrodt files for a second bankruptcy.
The city of Atlanta and six metro area counties filed a federal lawsuit this week in the U.S. District Court of North Georgia seeking compensatory and punitive damages against drug companies and pharmacies related to their role in the opioid crisis.
The cash represents an unprecedented opportunity to derail the opioid epidemic. But with countless groups advocating for a share of the pie, the impact could depend heavily on geography and politics.
Payouts will be spread over the next 18 years, with much of the funding going to help communities struggling with high rates of opioid addiction and overdose deaths.
