Philadelphia, along with other Pennsylvania counties, signed on a settlement that would churn out $1 billion for drug treatment and prevention, considering the opioid crisis in the state.
The officials agreed on the settlement after a brief argument where the mayor and the district attorney stated that the amount was too low and the 18-year payout schedule is too long for one of the most affected cities because of the drug epidemic.
According to the AG's office, Philadelphia would get at least $186 million as a share from the national opioid settlement of $26 billion. The mayor even stated that the city would get additional funds considering the city's devastation and residents' suffering.
The AG even informed that the drug distributors and manufacturer would start the payout of the settlement as soon as in April. It will help the government to set up programs to aware the drug-addicted people about the drawbacks and will also help to prevent the future opioid crisis. The agreement will even prevent greedy pharmaceutical companies' profit-oriented and deceptive opioid marketing.
Many cities and states across the U.S. have signed the $26 billion nationwide opioid settlement. The settlement amount will be paid by the drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson (J&J) along with the three-drug distributors AmerisourceBergen Corp, McKesson Corp, and Cardinal Health, Inc. It will address the nationwide opioid crisis that has resulted in a large number of deaths and has devastated families and communities.
