{"id":858,"date":"2025-04-08T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.walkwithremar.com\/?p=858"},"modified":"2025-04-11T19:35:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T19:35:41","slug":"for-opioid-victims-payouts-fall-short-while-governments-reap-millions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.walkwithremar.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/08\/for-opioid-victims-payouts-fall-short-while-governments-reap-millions\/","title":{"rendered":"For Opioid Victims, Payouts Fall Short While Governments Reap Millions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christopher Julian\u2019s opioid journey is familiar to many Americans.<\/p>\n

He was prescribed painkillers as a teenager for a series of sports injuries. He said the doctor never warned him they could be addictive. Julian didn\u2019t learn that fact until years later, when he was cut off and began suffering withdrawal symptoms. At that point, he started siphoning pills from family members and buying them from others in his southern Maine community.<\/p>\n

After his brother died of brain cancer in 2011<\/a>, Julian used opioids to cope with more than physical pain.<\/p>\n

He stole to support his addiction, cycled in and out of jail and treatment, and overdosed 10 times, he said. His mother once gave him CPR on their bathroom floor.<\/p>\n

Life was \u201chell on Earth,\u201d said Julian, now 43 and in long-term recovery.<\/p>\n

Like tens of thousands of others who have suffered similarly, Julian filed claims for compensation from pharmaceutical companies accused of fueling the opioid crisis.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, he received his first payout: $324.58.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s enough to fill his car with gas about eight times or pay about a tenth of the rent for an apartment he shares with his fiancee and two children.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Maine\u2019s Cumberland County, where Julian lives, has received more than $700,000 in opioid settlement money and expects nearly $1.6 million more in the coming years, according to a newly updated database from KFF Health News. Jurisdictions throughout his state have received more than $68 million to date, and governments nationwide have raked in upward of $10 billion, the database shows.<\/p>\n

That discrepancy between individuals\u2019 and governments\u2019 compensations highlights a sense of injustice felt by people directly affected by the crisis who say their suffering is the reason that governments secured these settlements.<\/p>\n

Opioid settlements with companies like Purdue Pharma, Walmart, and Johnson & Johnson have led to headline-grabbing multibillion-dollar payouts, but most of the windfall is flowing to state and local governments, not directly to victims of the crisis.<\/p>\n

Only a handful of companies \u2014 those that filed for bankruptcy, including Purdue Pharma, Mallinckrodt, Endo, and Rite Aid \u2014 have set aside payouts for individuals. To qualify, people must have filed claims within a certain window and provided documents proving they were prescribed painkillers from that company. Even then, many victims will receive just a few thousand dollars, lawyers and advocates estimate. Most of these companies have not started paying yet, so victims might have to wait months or years more before seeing the cash.<\/p>\n

In contrast, state and local governments have already received settlement money. To understand the size of those payouts, KFF Health News in January downloaded data from BrownGreer<\/a>, the court-appointed firm administering many national opioid settlements, and used it to update a searchable database that allows users to determine how much their city, county, or state has received or expects to receive each year.<\/p>\n

Governments are receiving that money because attorneys general argued that their states\u2019 public safety, health, and social service systems were harmed by the opioid crisis. Jurisdictions are supposed to spend settlement money on addiction treatment, recovery, and prevention programs. But many affected individuals and families say governments have failed to adhere to that mission.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the very minimum, they could spend these dollars right to prevent the future loss of life,\u201d said Ryan Hampton<\/a>, a national recovery advocate and previous co-chair of a committee in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case, where he represented victims. \u201cThat is the opposite of what we\u2019ve seen to date.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Pennsylvania, a group of bereaved family members raised similar concerns to Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who finalized opioid settlements when he was attorney general.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of directing funds toward evidence-based solutions, you and your administration have allowed counties to divert these resources into law enforcement, ineffective programs, and initiatives that already have other funding streams available \u2014 disrespecting both our families and the lives lost,\u201d they wrote in a letter<\/a> dated Feb. 14. \u201cMeanwhile, bereaved families \u2014 many of whom have lost everything \u2014 have no financial relief.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Governments Were Way More Powerful\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

To be sure, many governments have spent millions of settlement dollars<\/a> on treatment programs, recovery supports, distribution of overdose reversal medications, and other efforts. Some officials in charge of the money say those services, which reach many residents, can have a greater impact than individual payouts.<\/p>\n

Will Simons, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania governor, said in a statement that the Shapiro administration has invested nearly $90 million of settlement funds into treatment, recovery, harm reduction, and prevention initiatives, including prevention programs<\/a> for youths, a drug and alcohol call center<\/a>, and loan repayment programs<\/a> aimed at retaining workers in the addiction treatment and recovery field.<\/p>\n

Many of the awarded organizations \u201csupport families who have lost loved ones to this crisis, providing counseling and other family supports,\u201d Simons said.<\/p>\n

A few jurisdictions have created fairly modest funds directed at individuals, such as one in Boston<\/a> to aid families who have lost loved ones to addiction, and a fund in Alabama<\/a> for grandparents having to raise children because of parental substance use.<\/p>\n

But nationwide, there\u2019s little that resembles the widespread cash payments that many advocates, like Hampton, originally envisioned.<\/p>\n

In the mid-2010s, Hampton said, he and other advocates considered filing class action lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies but realized they didn\u2019t have the resources.<\/p>\n

A few years later, when state attorneys general began pursuing cases against those companies, victims were thrilled, thinking they would finally get compensation alongside their governments. Hampton and other advocates held rallies, shared their stories publicly, and galvanized support for the states\u2019 lawsuits.<\/p>\n

In 2019, when Hampton became co-chair of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in Purdue Pharma\u2019s bankruptcy and arrived at the negotiating table with state attorneys general and other entities, he thought \u201ceverybody was there to take on the big bad pharmaceutical company and to put victims\u2019 interests first,\u201d he said. But as the negotiation proceeded among various creditors vying for the company\u2019s assets, he said, \u201cgovernments were way more powerful than victims and believed that they were more harmed than victims in terms of cost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Details of the Purdue settlement are still being finalized, and payments are unlikely to start until next year, but estimates suggest<\/a> state and local governments will receive the lion\u2019s share, while more than 100,000 victims will split a fraction of the bankruptcy payout.<\/p>\n

Mallinckrodt, a manufacturer of generic opioids, is the only company that had begun paying victims as of early 2025, said Frank Younes<\/a>, a partner at the Nebraska-based law firm High & Younes, which is representing personal injury claimants in several opioid bankruptcies.<\/p>\n

After paying roughly 25% in administrative fees to the national trust overseeing the bankruptcy and an additional 40% in attorney fees, some of his clients have received between $400 and $700, Younes said.<\/p>\n

He expects payouts from two other companies \u2014 Endo and Rite Aid \u2014 \u201cwill be even lower.\u201d<\/p>\n

But many victims won\u2019t receive anything. Some didn\u2019t know they could file claims until it was too late. Others struggled to obtain medical records from shuttered doctors\u2019 offices or pharmacies that didn\u2019t retain older documents.<\/p>\n

Out of nearly 20,000 people who contacted Younes\u2019 firm to participate in the various opioid bankruptcies, he said, only about 3,500 were able to file.<\/p>\n

\u2018Do Something for These Families\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

John McNerney was told his Purdue Pharma claim didn\u2019t qualify, because he hadn\u2019t been prescribed enough OxyContin to meet the threshold. He submitted claims for Mallinckrodt and Endo instead.<\/p>\n

McNerney, 60, who lives in Boca Raton, Florida, said he suffered a spinal injury decades ago from a fall during a plumbing repair. For years afterward, he was prescribed various painkillers. Once his doctors cut him off, he began using pills a friend bought off the street. McNerney spent about $30,000 on rehabs before he entered long-term recovery.<\/p>\n

Now when he sees governments spending settlement money on police cars<\/a> or library books about addiction<\/a> \u201cinstead of putting 100% of it into rehab,\u201d he said, \u201cit really bothers the heck out of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t received a nickel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In Ohio, a group of affected families were similarly frustrated that money wasn\u2019t reaching them or the places where they thought it was needed most.<\/p>\n

The families teamed up with local nonprofits<\/a> to submit grant applications to the OneOhio Recovery Foundation<\/a>, which controls most of the state\u2019s opioid settlement funds<\/a>. They asked for several million dollars to put toward family support groups, training for family members who take in children whose parents have substance use disorders, and emergency cash aid for families to buy cribs or school supplies and cover funeral costs.<\/p>\n

Jackie Lewis, a member of the group, said that when her 34-year-old son, Shaun, died of an overdose, she had to pay his funeral costs by credit card. She has filed a claim in the opioid bankruptcies but hasn\u2019t received any money yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo many families didn\u2019t have a credit card to do that with,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cThere are families I\u2019ve talked to that couldn\u2019t do flowers. Some had to do a cremation instead of a traditional funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Her group did not receive funding in the first round of grants<\/a> from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation.<\/p>\n

Connie Luck, a spokesperson for the foundation, said the legal documents that established the foundation do not allow direct payments to individuals affected by the crisis. The foundation has awarded over $45 million to 245 projects throughout the state, including dozens that provide family support services like child care and rental assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe deeply empathize with those who have lost loved ones to the opioid epidemic \u2014 their pain is real, and it fuels the Foundation\u2019s mission to end this crisis and prevent it from happening again,\u201d Luck said in a statement.<\/p>\n

In Maine, Julian has made peace with his $325 payout, deciding to consider it a surprise bonus rather than compensation for his years of suffering.<\/p>\n

But he hopes governments will use their more substantial sums to provide real help \u2014 food and rental assistance for people in recovery and more treatment beds so no one has to wait six months to enter rehab as he once did.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re getting millions of dollars,\u201d said Julian, who has lost numerous close friends to overdose. \u201cThey could do something for these families that have suffered great losses.\u201d<\/p>\n

KFF Health News data editor Holly K. Hacker contributed to this article.<\/em><\/p>\n

Methodology<\/h4>\n

For more than two years, KFF Health News has been tracking<\/a> how state and local governments use \u2014 and misuse \u2014 billions of dollars in opioid settlement funds. This database marks our third update of data showing how much money state and local governments have received through national settlements with companies that made or distributed prescription painkillers.<\/p>\n

BrownGreer<\/a>, the court-appointed firm administering many national opioid settlements, tracks how much money it has delivered to various state and local governments, as well as how much is allocated to those jurisdictions for future years. It initially kept this information private.<\/p>\n

In 2023, KFF Health News negotiated to obtain that information and made it public<\/a> for the first time. Five months later, BrownGreer began posting updated versions of the information on a public website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last year, KFF Health News downloaded BrownGreer\u2019s data on payouts from pharmaceutical distributors AmerisourceBergen (now called Cencora), Cardinal Health, and McKesson, as well as opioid manufacturer Janssen (now known as Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine), and used the state-by-state spreadsheets with separate entries for each settling company to create a searchable database<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This year, KFF Health News has updated that database with new data from BrownGreer, including payouts from opioid manufacturers Allergan and Teva, as well as CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart pharmacies.<\/p>\n

KFF Health News downloaded data from BrownGreer\u2019s website between Jan. 20 and 24, 2025, concerning payouts from all companies. Users can use the database to determine the total dollar amount their city, county, or state has received or expects to receive each year.<\/p>\n

Although this is the most comprehensive data available at a national scale, it provides just a snapshot of all opioid settlement payouts. Other settlements, including with OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma, are still pending<\/a>. This data does not reflect additional settlements that some state and local governments have entered into beyond the national deals, such as the agreement between Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio and regional supermarket chain Meijer. As such, this database undercounts the amount of opioid settlement money most places have received and will receive.<\/p>\n

Payment details for some states are not available, because those states were not part of national settlement agreements<\/a>, had unique settlement terms, or opted not to have their payments distributed via BrownGreer. A few examples:<\/p>\n

\u2022 West Virginia declined to join several national settlements and instead reached individual settlements with many of these companies.\u2022 Texas and Nevada were paid in full by Janssen outside the national settlement, so their payout data reflects payments only from other companies with which they entered national settlements.\u2022 Florida, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, among others, opted to receive a lump-sum payment via BrownGreer then distribute the money to localities themselves.<\/p>\n

BrownGreer shows that several states received some of their anticipated 2027 payment from the distributors (AmerisourceBergen \u2014 now called Cencora \u2014 Cardinal Health, and McKesson) early in 2024. However, for three states \u2014 Colorado, Michigan, and Washington \u2014 BrownGreer does not provide data on how much of this prepayment went to each locality. As such, locality payments in these states may be undercounted for 2024 and overcounted for 2027.<\/p>\n

For Oregon, BrownGreer shows 2024 payments from Walmart as fully paid in its statewide data but lists some August 2024 payments for localities as \u201cprojected.\u201d Since the data was downloaded well past that August 2024 date, we have included those \u201cprojected\u201d amounts in the 2024 paid total for Oregon localities. No other states had this discrepancy.<\/p>\n

\n

KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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This story can be republished for free (details<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christopher Julian\u2019s opioid journey is familiar to many Americans. He was prescribed painkillers as a teenager for a series of sports injuries. He said the doctor never warned him they could be addictive. Julian didn\u2019t learn that fact until years later, when he was cut off and began suffering withdrawal symptoms. At that point, he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.walkwithremar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.walkwithremar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.walkwithremar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.walkwithremar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.walkwithremar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.walkwithremar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":864,"href":"http:\/\/www.walkwithremar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858\/revisions\/864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.walkwithremar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.walkwithremar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.walkwithremar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.walkwithremar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}