After years of legal battle, State Attorney General won Billions of dollars in opioid settlements Pharmaceutical companies are accused of promoting drug addiction crisis. He announced victory in a press conference, and some postponed deals During their governor campaigns,
But now that the windfall is being spent, are the Attorney General enough to ensure that it be used for intended purposes?
No, it is said that many families affected by the overdose crisis, advocates, policy experts, and researchers followed cash.
A resident of Maryland, “This is blood money,” Tony Torque said Death from an overdose At the age of 24. This cannot be made for lost life, but “we want to make sure it is going to count.”
The crisis -affected flashlight and other people are increasingly concerned that no opioid settlement guards the cash, while the elected officials have seen this. With Trump Administration Federal funding for drug addiction And the Congress approved the large -scale cut to Medicid – The largest payer for drug care Nationwide – People are afraid that state MLAs will use settlements as bags to fill the budget shortage.
In front of these concerns, two research and advocacy organizations are proposing a solution: to investigate a crowd -borne database and to identify the possible examples of the accelerated Attorney General.
Opioid policy institute And Popular democracy Launched a website This allows the members of the public to present the alleged cases of waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement of opioid settlement funds. Reviews by submission Jonathan StoltmanThe director of the Opioid Policy Institute, and then posted with the details such as how much money was spent, what was bought, which took decisions, and links to relevant news articles or budget documents.
DatabasePreviously shared with KFF Health News, contains around 150 examples to start, including a Missouri County $ 2,362 to its roads and bridge department and $ 375,600 spent on a body scanner for Michigan County Jail. Initial examples were obtained from people in recovery, advocates and other stoltmen and their team asked to test the project. Stoltman admitted that he would face criticism as the primary intermediary who qualify as misuse for databases, but he said he would use research studies to protect his decisions.
The website also shows people how to file complaints with your state Attorney General and to develop a formal procedure from the office to get such complaints and investigate.
“I hope this is a wake-up call for the state AG that his work has not been done on the project,” Frank Carel said, who has co -medified the attempt with Stoltman and is working as a lawyer in popular democracy till 14 July. “We still have time” to make sure that we spend this money in a way that actually responds to the loss. ,
New Jersey MPs launched the website just a week after passing a budget Give $ 45 million to health systems Despite the state in settlement fund Attorney General OppositionThe legislators said that this federal Medicade will mold hospitals with a shock of cuts, but Advocates said loss of loss It pays less tribute to people with disorders of substance, who had to serve the money.
Caroline Habib 
Among MPs North Carolina And Washington DC, They are also considering using the disposal fund to plug the gap, and Connecticut And Nevada It has also been discussed.
“It’s not what it is,” the flashlight said, who runs a non -profit organization dedicated to the recovery of addiction in honor of his son. “We want to make sure that money is being spent in the most responsible and effective manner to help those who are still struggling.”
Last year, when the flashlight heard that a Western Maryland County spent some of her disposal money on guns, she reached her state Attorney General to complain. The office said it was not the responsibility of this, the flashlight said, and asked him to contact the Health Department.
She was confused.
The Attorney General’s office is representing the “top police”, the flashlight told KFF Health News.
The office of Maryland Attorney General refused to answer KFF Health News questions as to how it handles the Opioid Settlement Complaint.
About a dozen companies State and local governments are expected to pay more than $ 50 billion in opioid settlements in about two decades. Perdue Pharma CaseThe most famous, still is Make your way through courtBut other companies including Johnson & Johnson, CVS Health and Walgren have started paying.
Although the nuances of each settlement deal are different, most of the states need to use at least 85% of the money on efforts related to opioid crisis. But the enforcement is Left companies It paid the money. And legal experts suspect that companies are monitoring the state’s expenses.
The Attorney General should also apply that standard, said Stoltman of Opioid Policy Institute. “If you are going to beat your chest, how much money you have received for Opioids for your state,” he said, “What are you doing to make sure it is really being spent well?”
Stoltman and Kerl teams Survey attorney general office In 56 states and regions, to see if each office had a complaint for this pot of money, explained the details required to report misuse, and allowed submitters to track their grievances. He also discovered the websites of state auditors, controllers and similar institutions for complaints or procedures.
Their conclusions? Only three states referred to specific procedures for reporting of opioid settlement money misuse.
South Carolina And new Jersey There were links on disposal websites that used to direct people for general complaint forms. Oklahoma was the only state An opioid disposal-specific forms,
Opioid Response and Grant Coordinator, Jill Nichols, at the Attorney General’s Oklahoma office, said it was created in response to researchers’ investigation in April. By the end of June, he received a complaint, which was found without merit.
Stoltman and Kerl said they hope that the Crowdesorsed database would encourage the more Attorney General to play an active oversight role to play how much potential misuse.
The office of Michigan Attorney General said it is planning to publish a settlement-specific complaint form later this year.
But some Attorney General told KFF Health News that it was not their job to track how the money was spent.
Pennsylvania Attorney General David Sunday, a spokesman of Brett Hambright, said that the state made one Opioid settlement council To take that responsibility.
In Northern Carolina, the office of Attorney General Jeff Jackson said, the settlement fund is controlled by the State Legislature and the local governments. Spokesperson Ben Connoy said, “Our office does not administration nor we have the power to withdraw them.”
Even when the Attorney General looks closely at the money, their power can be limited. For example, Erizona’s Attorney General Chris Meyes went to court last year to prevent the State Legislature from giving the reform department from giving $ 115 million into the settlement fund. But a Judge ruled against him,
The office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown directed other state agencies of KFF Health News questions.
Michael Corerie, a spokesman for Maryland’s overdose response, said that public members could email the office with complaints. If the office agrees that there is misuse, it will bring the complaint to the Attorney General, which per – per. State agreement with local governments – “May be” action.
As this year, Attorney General’s office $ 1.5 million to receive The Opioid Settlement Fund in Maryland belongs to opioid related cases to cover the cost of annual workers and administration. This may involve sue more companies for future disposal deals.
Maryland Mom Torsch said that she wants attention not only to win more money, but also ensures that existing disposal dollars are spent well.
“We give it to all the families that have been destroyed and have suffered a lot,” he said.
KFF Health News There is a national news room that produces intensive journalism about health issues and is one of the main operating programs Malevolent – Independent sources for health policy research, voting and journalism.
