The opioid crisis has shattered communities in Western North Carolina. Now some federal funding may help local communities as they try to address the fallout. In June, a settlement agreement required companies like Teva, Walmart and CVS to pay out more than $17 billion for their role in the crisis. That funding will almost double the amount already promised to counties from an earlier settlement with Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen.
Russ Harris runs the Southwestern Commission, a local council of governments organization over the seven westernmost counties. Doubling the settlement money means the counties will now receive close to $40 million.
"I think everyone has local priorities so there might now be very much very much funding left out of that first pot of $20 million over 18 years to address larger regional issues. So I think it really just gives us more flexibility," Harris said.
This second wave of settlements provides North Carolina with an additional $521 million over 15 years.
National investigations and litigation against the pharmaceutical industry over the opioid crisis has led to more than $56 billion in funding so far. North Carolina’s share of that is $1.5 billion.
The settlements also require restrictions on business for the companies.
- Teva will not be allowed to do any opioid marketing and put systems in place to prevent drug misuse.
- Allergan is required to stop selling opioids for the next 10 years.
- CVS and Walgreens will require their pharmacies to monitor, report, and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions.
- A final agreement with Walmart is still in process.
“With 11 North Carolinians dying of an overdose everyday on average, we are at a moment of crisis. These agreements my office achieved with these drug manufacturers and pharmacies will save lives,” NC Attorney General Josh Stein said in a press release. “We are requiring these companies to pay for desperately-needed treatment in our communities and to change the way they operate to prevent other people from getting addicted in the future.”
