The Butler County commissioners voted Wednesday to accept more than $9.5 million from a proposed $1 billion settlement between the state and several opioid manufacturers.

Money from the settlement will go toward the creation of the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust, which would oversee the disbursement of funds received by the state through the settlement.

The trust would then allocate 15% of the settlement amount to the state, 70% to local governments and 15% to the litigating subdivisions and agencies that took part in the class action suit against the opioid manufacturers, which included McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Amerisource Bergen Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

Counties across the state would get a total of $700 million, of which about $9.5 million would be distributed to Butler County.

This is a great win for the county, which has long been at the center of the opioid epidemic. Drug-related deaths peaked in the county in 2017 with 92 fatal overdoses, but had been on the decline in 2018 and 2019.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic — which forced many people, drug abusers included, into isolation and made services aimed at helping people kick drug addiction less available — has led to an increase in opioid and other drug-related deaths.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of overdose deaths in the United States topped 100,000 for the first time this year. Last summer, the CDC noted that overdose deaths were on the rise by 16% in Pennsylvania.

Leslie Osche, chairwoman of the county commissioners, said money allocated for the county through the settlement would combat opioid abuse.

Some of the funds would go toward treatment, prevention, expanded training and distribution of overdose reversal drugs, increased distribution of medication-assisted treatment for the uninsured or those whose insurance doesn’t cover treatment, expanding treatment for pregnant and postpartum women, expanding treatment for newborns exposed to opioids in the womb, increasing treatment for inmates and other strategies.

“Our county has been dramatically impacted, like so many others, by the opioid crisis,” Osche said. “The dollars that may be received over the next several years will be put to good use by our drug and alcohol commission and our opioid task force for their efforts in addiction treatment and prevention.”

We’re glad to hear this. The commissioners made a good move by signing on to the class action suit, rather than hiring an attorney to sue the manufacturers separately. As a result, much-needed assistance will soon be on the way to help those battling addiction in the county.

— NCD