Centre County is poised to get $1.7 million from landmark opioid settlement. Here's what to know

Jan. 20—BELLEFONTE — Upward of $1.7 million could flow into Centre County over the course of the next two decades as part of a settlement with the nation's three biggest drug distribution companies and a large opioid manufacturer.

Funding from the front-loaded settlement could be received by the summer, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Wednesday during a roundtable discussion.

That'd give county executives more money to combat the public health crisis that has killed more than 140 people since 2013 in Centre County.

"I can't say enough about how big of a deal this is to have this new money coming in," county Commissioner Steve Dershem said Wednesday during the meeting with county leaders, health care and law enforcement officials and the state's top prosecutor.

Where will the money go?

The settlement was part of a yearslong effort by state and local governments to force the pharmaceutical industry to help fix the nation's opioid addiction and overdose crisis.

The deal called for national drug distribution companies AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson to collectively pay up to $21 billion over 18 years. The drugmaker Johnson & Johnson will pay up to $5 billion over nine years.

Pennsylvania could see as much as $1 billion from the settlement. County governments that opted in have authority on how to spend the money, though it must be used on opioid abatement.

The deal is the second-biggest cash settlement of its kind in U.S. history behind the tobacco deal in the 1990s.

Fractions of that settlement went toward preventing smoking. Much of the money went to help balance budgets, repair roads or other programs that didn't help those harmed by tobacco.

Ensuring the money received from the opioid settlement went to fight the crisis was one of the top priorities for Shapiro, one of the leading voices in the negotiations.

"In some cases, it could be used to add an additional treatment bed to a community. In other cases, it might be used for transportation for someone to get someone to treatment," Shapiro said. "But it has to be related to treatment."

It was not immediately clear how Centre County, which opted in to the settlement in December, plans to spend the money. The county plans to explore its options in the coming months, Commissioner Michael Pipe said.

Each state's share of the funds was determined using a formula that takes into account the number of overdose deaths, the amount of residents with substance use disorder, the quantity of opioids delivered and the state's population.

At least 12 people died of a drug overdose in 2021, Centre County Deputy Coroner Deb Smeal said. The county averaged nearly 16 drug overdose deaths annually since 2013.

State College and Bellefonte each reported two drug overdose deaths in 2021. Philipsburg, Port Matilda and College, Ferguson, Liberty, Marion, Potter and Rush townships each reported one death.

Nine were white, two were Black and one was Chinese. Eight were men, four were women.

Is it enough?

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, as well as Dershem, are among those who have criticized the settlement. They've said the agreement fails to hold opioid distributors and manufacturers accountable for the damage they caused.

Krasner has called the settlement a "sellout," while Dershem said "I think it should have been more" during a commissioners meeting in December.

Shapiro has bristled at the criticism, saying the settlement is the quickest way to get hundreds of millions of dollars to counties for treatment. The alternative, he's said, is to make residents wait years for an uncertain outcome that could leave them with nothing.

Centre County's share, Shapiro said, should bolster the "already good work they're doing."

"You really have your act together," Shapiro told those who joined him at the roundtable discussion. "And it's impressive."

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