Prince William County Begins Receiving Settlement Dollars from 2022 Opioid Settlements

(Prince William, Va., August 4, 2022) - Prince William County has begun receiving settlement distributions from nationwide settlements with three pharmaceutical distributors and an opioid manufacturer that helped to fuel the opioid epidemic. In all, Virginia and its localities will receive approximately $530 million over a period of years in the settlements with the drug distributors McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen Corp. and Cardinal Health, and the prescription opioid manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceutical. On August 1, Prince William County received notification that the National Opioid Settlement Directing Administrator initiated a Distributor payment of $144,599.40 to the County for Payment Year 1.

These settlements resulted in part from the efforts of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, who first filed suit against these defendants several years ago.

Virginia has been a national leader in creating a transparent and orderly process for deploying its opioid settlement funds. Last year, the Office of the Virginia Attorney General successfully partnered with each of the Commonwealth’s 133 cities and counties to reach 100% agreement in support of a structured program for distributing opioid settlement funds.

“The opioid epidemic has affected families and communities throughout the Commonwealth, including here in Prince William County,” remarks Chair Ann B. Wheeler. “Although this settlement cannot adequately compensate for those who have died from opioid overdose deaths, we hope our efforts to invest the funds to combat the opioid crisis will be a small comfort to their loved ones.”

"Our community’s first responders and government departments, including Police, Fire and Rescue and Community Services, are setting the groundwork to provide critical lifesaving support, education and resources to address the opioid epidemic,” says Gainesville District Supervisor Pete Candland, who first proposed that the County become involved in the suit. “The funding provided by this settlement will help enhance services to more county residents.”

Under the terms of the agreement between the state and its local jurisdictions:

• Fifteen percent of settlement funds will be allocated to the Commonwealth of Virginia.
• Thirty percent of settlement funds will be allocated to Virginia’s cities and counties, and at least half of the funds must be spent on community-based opioid abuse prevention, treatment and recovery efforts.
• Each locality’s allocation is based on specific local metrics, including the number of opioid-related ER visits and overdose deaths and the volume of opioid prescription drugs shipped into each locality.
• The remaining 55% of settlement funds will be administered by the new Opioid Abatement Authority, established in law by the 2021 Virginia General Assembly, to provide additional and ongoing support for local, regional and state opioid abuse abatement efforts.

According to the Virginia Department of Health, 14,541 Virginians died from opioid-related overdoses between 2007 and 2021. In 2020, 1,478 Virginians died from fatal opioid overdoses – a 17% increase over 2019 and an average of four fatal overdoses per day. Nearly 10,000 people were treated for opioid-related overdoses in Virginia hospital emergency rooms in 2020 – a 33% increase over the prior year.

Additional legal activities related to the opioid epidemic are still underway, including Virginia’s pending $80 million settlement with OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma and its founders, the Sackler family. Going forward, local, regional and state opioid abatement efforts are expected to be further supplemented by additional settlements, verdicts or court orders involving others who participated in the manufacture, marketing, distribution and sale of opioids in Virginia.

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Media Contact: Rachel Johnson
Acting Communications Director
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 571-298-7249