$59M In Opioid Settlement Funds Coming To Delaware County

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — Delaware County and state officials Tuesday announced it will be getting millions of dollars in a major opioid lawsuit settlement and plans to use the funds to help opioid addiction and overuse.

Delaware County Council Chair Dr. Monica Taylor, District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the major settlement.

Taylor said the county will get $59 million in total over 18 years, and has already received $2.03 million. Delaware County will receive another payment by the year's end, totaling $7.36 million.

Annually, the county will average $3.5 million in settlement funds.

The DA's office is also getting an additional $3.3 million, and has already gotten about $167,000, bringing the total settlement for the county to $62 million.

In total, Pennsylvania won $1.07 billion in the settlement, and the state has gotten $131 million already.

The funds come from a $26 billion global settlement from Cardinal, McKesson, and Amerisource Bergen.

She said these funds will be used to combat the opioid crisis.

A county task force has already been formed to help determined the best uses of these funds.

"There is no monetary amount that can be placed on what we lost as a community," Taylor said Tuesday at a news conference.

Stollsteimer highlighted the county's cutting edge policies on handling opioids, such as first responders carrying Narcan, the county drug court, and a program that prioritizes treatment over incarceration.

Now, Stollsteimer said, Narcan is being given out to community members in an expanded effort to save lives.

Stollsteimer said, in conjunction with the Attorney General's Office, 8 kilograms of fentanyl taken off streets in Delaware County this year.

"Thank you, Attorney General Shapiro," Stollsteimer said.

Shapiro thanked the county for working so strong together in combatting the opioid epidemic in the county.

"This is a crisis which claims the lives of 15 Pennsylvanians every single day," he said. "It touches the lives of everyone and their families."

According to Shapiro, 5,224 Pennsylvanians died of drug overdoses in 2021, in Delaware County 197 people died from drug overdoses in 2021.

He said It's not just illegal drug dealers that contribute to the crisis.

"If you really want to hold those accountable, you gotta have the courage to go after the greedy executives in these pharmaceutical offices, he said.

He said today's announcement marks a new day, saying those who peddled the drugs must now pay up.

The suit was filed back in 2017 under then District Attorney Jack Whelan.

Officials listed numerous pharmaceutical companies, as well as specific doctors, in its initial filing.

The county said the suppliers and physicians "conspired to deceitfully promote and market the benefits of using opioids to treat chronic pain."