CT Gets Initial Payment Of $11M From Opioid Settlement

Introduction

A $26 billion multistate opioid settlement with Johnson & Johnson and medication distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson has already paid Connecticut its first installment of $11 million.

For their contributions to the opioid crisis, the four firms were sued. As part of the settlement struck in February, Connecticut would get $300 million over the following 18 years. On Monday, the first payment was announced in Waterbury by the attorney general of Connecticut. State authorities and parents who had lost children to the drug scourge accompanied him.

A lady who lost her son five years ago stated that she would want to see the settlement funds go toward drug awareness programs. She claimed that young people in particular need to be aware that merely one tablet can be fatal due to the rising use of fentanyl.

People can no longer experiment with drugs, the woman claimed, thus more must be done to spread that message. She further added that we need to get kids young because using drugs is like playing Russian roulette, and we're seeing it more and more frequently.

While some of the settlement money should go toward education, another parent who is mourning the loss of two sons to drug addiction noted that it should also help the families of the victims. The parent said that it would be preferable if the cash were distributed to the families because they had essentially lost all of their 401(k) plan savings while attempting to enlist the aid of their children.

Legally, the settlement funds will go to cities and towns since that's where the treatment programs are, according to the attorney general who defended Connecticut in the lawsuit. He clarified that this isn't just about the money and these cases, they're about families and doing justice, not just about resources and financing.

At Waterbury Fire Department Station 10, where emergency personnel is dispatched to deal with overdoses, the attorney general made the settlement payout announcement. According to the mayor of Waterbury, the department gave Narcan, an opioid emergency treatment, 870 times last year.

The mayor noted that while it is awful to hear about someone passing away from an opioid overdose every day, I genuinely believe that today marks a turning point in our ability to secure the money required to continue this fight.

The initial $11 million payment will result in a payout of $73,281 to Waterbury. A portion of the money will support a municipal initiative that sends technicians to overdoses.

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