Opioid Settlement Funds
Maximizing the money that can help end the crisis.
The Problem: States and local jurisdictions are receiving billions of dollars from companies along the opioid supply chain. This money is supposed to address the addiction crisis, but as we saw with the tobacco settlement in the 90s, funds are not always used for their intended purpose.
The companies paying settlement funds to state and local governments played a role in creating the nation’s deadliest overdose epidemic, the effects of which we are all still grappling with more than two decades later.
Money from these lawsuits must be spent on addiction programs that are proven to save lives.
The Solution: Ensure that state and local jurisdictions spend settlement funds to prevent and treat addiction, not to fill state budget gaps for unrelated issues.
Shatterproof, in partnership with the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, is leading a national coalition of organizations that endorse the Principles for the Use of Funds from the Opioid Litigation.
We’re working with states and local governments to implement good government approaches and best practices, including:
- Funds should be spent on evidence-based interventions to save lives and shouldn’t supplant existing funding;
- Decision-making processes should be transparent and incorporate diverse stakeholders;
- Regular reporting on how funds are spent and their impacts should be made public.
Shatterproof and the JHU Bloomberg School of Public Health have also partnered with KFF Health News to track state opioid settlement advisory council membership.
