North Carolina's Opioid Settlements Disbursed Soon

North Carolina is about to receive a cash infusion from opioid settlements. The payout comes from opioid manufacturer Johnson and Johnson. Drug distributors Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen, also contributed to the payout. (North Carolina may be in line to receive $100 million from a separate settlement with the Sackler family, Purdue Pharma's owners, and Oxycontin manufacturers.

The money is sorely needed to provide more resources to individuals with substance use disorder in North Carolina. In 2021, nearly four thousand lives in North Carolina were lost to drug overdoses, an alarming 26% increase from 2020.

What Are The Opioid Settlements For?

The drugmakers and distributors in the lawsuit deceived doctors and patients about the drug's safety and high addiction profile, all the while providing incentives to prescribe more. According to North Carolina State Attorney General, "These companies made billions of dollars while millions of Americans got hooked on opioids. In North Carolina, we've already lost at least 20,000 people to this crisis, and countless families more have been devastated by loss and addiction. That's why I led a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from across the country to hold them accountable. As a result, we achieved the second-largest state attorney general settlement in history – $26 billion."

The money itself is meant to help prevent and treat addiction throughout the state. Not all details, however, are settled about the specifics.

Settlements Offer Cash Infusion Into Addiction Resources

The settlement is meant to help North Carolina communities with treatment, recovery, prevention, and harm reduction services. While localities can decide how the money is spent, they will also be transparent about it on a dashboard meant to track the spending.

More money will go to programs that offer needle exchange programs and naloxone, an opioid-reversal drug for harm reduction. Treatment centers, detox centers, and community recovery centers will all get an increase in funding. Most importantly, evidence-based approaches like Medication-Assisted Treatment will also focus on increased funding efforts.

Getting Help for Opioid Use Disorder

If you or somebody you love is struggling with opioid use, we're here to help. We offer MAT and therapy across North Carolina via telehealth. Learn more about our treatment options by calling us at 910-295-7246.