Tish to spread $1.5B from opioid suits through state

State Attorney General Letitia James will be dishing out $1.5 billion to fight the opioid epidemic as she embarks on a trip crisscrossing the state, her office said Monday.

The AG has a piggy bank of cash to offer state localities as a result of her civil lawsuits against pharmaceutical giants like Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, Cardinal Health and others. Additional money from nationwide lawsuits against Purdue Pharma is also expected.

James (photo), along with attorneys general around the country, have sued pharma giants for fueling the opioid crisis.

“Today, we begin to heal New York with these funds that will help turn the tide on the opioid crisis,” James said in a release.

“We are ensuring every region and every county gets financial help to recover from the devastation that opioids have inflicted on them.

“The funds we’re infusing into New York today and going forward will be used toward combating this epidemic with investments in prevention, treatment and recovery.”

James will make dozens of stops across the state delivering the infusions of cash, she said.

All 62 counties in the state will be receiving disbursements from the settlement.

The money will go toward funding “investments in prevention, treatment and recovery,” James said.

The announcement by the AG comes as she continues to weigh whether or not she will run for governor.

James filed a massive, 269-page lawsuit against the Sackler pharmaceutical family — which owns Purdue Pharma — and other pill distributors in March 2019. Along with the Sacklers, the suit names five other manufacturers, four pharmaceutical distributors and includes claims that the Sackler family tried to hide money in off-shore accounts.

James claimed in the suit that the manufacturers misled the public about the dangers and addictiveness of opioids.

Nearly 3,000 New York State residents died of opioid overdoses in 2018, the most recent year for which data are available.

More than 3,200 people died of opioid overdoses in the state in 2017.

The number has skyrocketed since 2010, with a 200% increase between 2010 and 2017, according to state health data.

The largest chunk of settlement money will go to counties in New York City, which will get between $140 million and $250 million to fight the epidemic, according to James.

Nassau and Suffolk counties will receive between $140 million and $230 million.