Some opioid settlement money is used to raise salaries and replace other funding; victims' families say that's wrong

Addiction recovery advocates say redirecting funds isn't
in the 'spirit of the settlement.' (Adobe stock photo)

As opioid settlement funds hit state, county and city coffers, some have been diverted for staff salary increases and already-established budgets. Victims' families and addiction treatment advocates argue the practice, formally known as known as supplantation, is not what the money was intended to do, reports Aneri Pattani of KFF Health News. "Local officials say they're trying to stretch tight budgets, especially in rural areas. But critics say it's a lost opportunity to bolster responses to an ongoing addiction crisis and save lives."

Commenting on what many see as misguided spending, Robert Kent, former general counsel for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, told Pattani, "To think that replacing what you're already spending with settlement funds is going to make things better — it's not. Certainly, the spirit of the settlements wasn't to keep doing what you're doing. It was to do more."

Opioid disbursements in Scott County, Indiana, are an example of how the money and disagreements on how to spend it are playing out. "In 2022, the county received more than $570,000 in opioid settlement funds," Pattani writes. "According to reports it filed with the state, it spent about 45 percent of that on salaries for its health director and emergency medical services staff. The money usually budgeted for those salaries was freed to buy an ambulance and create a rainy-day fund for the health department."

On balance, throughout the national waves of intense addiction trials -- from prescription to heroin to fentanyl -- many cities and counties redirected thousands of dollars to respond to the crisis. Now that settlement funds are coming in, "They want to recoup some of those expenses," Pattani reports. Some states have "restricted substituting opioid settlement funds for existing government spending, according to state guides created by OpioidSettlementTracker.com and the public health organization Vital Strategies."

While community spending can be complex, there are tools to help citizens identify the amount of opioid dollars their community has received to date. Pattani adds, "Use our searchable database to find out. Then, ask elected officials how they're spending those dollars. In many places, dedicated citizens are the only watchdogs for this money."