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News Articles: opioid settlements

A Walgreens pharmacy store is seen in Deerfield, Ill., July 25, 2024.

Tagged as: 

  • National

Walgreens to pay up to $350 million in U.S. opioid settlement

The nationwide drugstore chain must pay the government at least $300 million and will owe another $50 million if the company is sold, merged, or transferred before 2032, according to the settlement.

April 22, 2025
|
By:
  • The Associated Press
John Greene and his counselor Emily Georgia at Family & Children's Counseling Services in Cortland, N.Y. Greene is four months into recovery for the first time since he started regularly using drugs at age 14. He credits a new program that the counseling center started with opioid settlement money.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

How are states spending their opioid settlement cash? Look yours up in this database

From addiction treatment to toy robot ambulances, here's how state and local governments used billions in opioid settlement funds in 2022 and 2023. Explore this database to find our how officials are using the payouts where you live.

December 16, 2024
|
By:
  • Aneri Pattani
A public art memorial project honors victims of the opioid crisis in Binghamton, New York, in August 2023. Money from opioid lawsuit settlements is now flowing to states and municipalities, but the accounting is uneven.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

We checked up on the states that promise transparency on opioid settlement funds

Victims of the opioid crisis, health advocates, and policy experts have called on state and local governments to clearly report how they’re using the funds they are receiving from settlements with opioid companies.

November 07, 2024
|
By:
  • Aneri Pattani
Local representatives gather in Beckley, W.Va., to select a regional representative for the nonprofit council that will be responsible for distributing funds from the state's opioid settlement. Around the country, state councils like this will decide how to spend $50 billion in opioid settlement funds.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Here's who controls the $50 billion opioid settlement funds in each state

As money is funneled to states, opioid councils wield significant power in determining how it gets spent. They face concerns about conflicts of interest and lack of representation by affected groups.

July 10, 2023
|
By:
  • Aneri Pattani
Public art in Altoona, Penn., one of many cities hit hard by the opioid epidemic. Marianne Sinisi organized the installation after her son died of an overdose. State and local governments have received about $3 billion so far out of $50 billion total in settlements from national lawsuits.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Opioid settlement payouts are now public — and we know how much local governments got

KFF Health News obtained documents showing the exact dollar amounts — down to the cent — that local governments have been paid in 2022 and 2023 in lawsuit settlements from the opioid crisis.

June 16, 2023
|
By:
  • Aneri Pattani
States filed lawsuits against corporations involved in the opioid crisis. Now, about $50 billion in settlement funds have begun to flow to state governments. Advocates want to make sure it is used to treat addiction.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Biden promised a watchdog for opioid settlement billions, but feds are quiet so far

Billions of dollars are headed to state and local governments to address the opioid crisis. If the federal government fails to oversee how the money is spent, advocates worry it will be wasted.

April 20, 2023
|
By:
  • Aneri Pattani
Marianne Sinisi, of Altoona, Pennsylvania, lost her 26-year-old son, Shawn, to an opioid overdose in 2018. She wants the opioid settlement dollars to be spent in ways that help spare other parents similar grief.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

As states start to get opioid settlement cash, few are sharing how they spend it

All told, drugmakers and distributors will pay over $50 billion to communities harmed by opioids. An investigation finds that only a dozen states are letting the public see how they use the money.

March 30, 2023
|
By:
  • Aneri Pattani

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