Area to get millions in opioid case
James announces settlement, mum on run for governor
Attorney General Letitia James skirted questions about a potential run for governor when she appeared in Albany Tuesday to announce up to $32 million in opioid settlement funds for the Capital Region.
After a visit to Westchester County earlier in the day, James stopped at Albany Medical Center in the afternoon as part of her new “Healny” tour to announce the opioid funding. The monthlong tour, which kicked off Monday in the Bronx, will take her to communities across the state as her name is being floated as a likely gubernatorial candidate.
“Today we’re only talking about lives and saving lives,” James told reporters who pressed her on the question of her candidacy. “This is not about politics. This is about saving lives and bringing people to recovery and providing them some hope.”
Surrounded by local officials, elected representatives and advocates, James revealed that the Capital Region is in line to receive anywhere from $17.8 million to $32.5 million in funding as part of settlements her office has negotiated with drug manufacturers and distributors accused of fueling the opioid crisis.
Statewide, up to $1.5 billion could soon pour into local communities as a result of the settlements. Under a new state law that passed with James’ help, the money cannot be used to pad the state’s general fund and must instead be used to fund addiction education, prevention, treatment and recovery services.
“It happens too many times. We get settlements and the money goes toward another cause than the one that started the settlement,” said Albany County Executive Dan Mccoy, referring to the massive settlement reached with tobacco companies more than two decades ago. Funds from that settlement largely ended up in the state’s general fund.
Albany County is slated to receive up to $4 million from the recently negotiated opioid settlements, with additional fund
ing going directly to the city of Albany, James said.
“For more than 20 years, the Capital Region has seen the dangerous and deadly results of opioid addiction . ... With these funds, we can heal New York and turn the tide on the opioid crisis by investing in opioid prevention, treatment, and recovery,” James said. “While no amount of money will ever make up for all those we have lost to this lethal addiction, these funds will be vital in helping to prevent future deaths.”
The more municipalities that sign on to the settlement agreement, the larger the pot of funding grows, according to terms of the settlements James reached this past year with various drugmakers and distributors. James said Tuesday that part of the reason for her tour is to bring awareness to the funding pot for municipalities that have yet to sign on.
Money will start rolling out next year, with additional funds expected from litigation still under way. Here are the minimum and maximum awards each county in the region is eligible to receive from the settlements negotiated so far:
Albany County (including the city of Albany): $3,237,298 to $5,725,908
Columbia County: $552,102 to $964,528
Greene County: $666,825 to $1,164,952
Rensselaer County: $1,068,187 to $1,866,136
Saratoga County: $1,411,644 to $2,466,158
Schenectady County: $1,023,352 to $1,787,807
Warren County: $514,588 to $898,991
Washington County: $403,410 to $704,762
The funds come from different settlements James negotiated following her office’s March 2019 lawsuit against drugmakers accused of downplaying the risks of their products and distributors accused of shipping massive quantities of painkillers into communities nationwide for more than two decades with little oversight.
Manufacturers named in the suit included Purdue Pharma (and their owners the Sacklers), Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Mallinckrodt LLC, Endo Health Solutions, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. and Allergan Finance, LLC. Distributors named in the complaint were Mckesson Corporation, Cardinal Health Inc., Amerisource Bergen Drug Corporation and Rochester Drug Cooperative Inc.
Settlements have been reached with all but Mallinckrodt and Rochester Drug Cooperative, whose cases are now moving separately through U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA and Allergan Finance, whose trials are currently under way in state court.
The companies have denied wrongdoing.