Washington, D.C. — U.S. Rep Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), a Toledo Democrat whose ninth congressional district extends to Cleveland, and David B. McKinley(R-W.Va.), a West Virginia Republican, have introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at ensuring the funds that states receive from opioid settlements are used to fight the epidemic and are focused towards treatment, prevention, education, and enforcement.

The Opioid Settlement Accountability Act (H.R.5242) would ensure funds from opioid related settlements are used to address the opioid crisis and are not being used as a piggy bank for other projects. Click here to read the full text of H.R. 5242.

“As the opioids litigation settlements are determined, the federal government must assure Medicaid-related dollars are directed and allocated to explicitly fund efforts to curb this tragic crisis, " said Kaptur. " This legislation would ensure accountability of the opioids settlement money recouped from pharmaceutical companies and drug distributors and protect the funding from being used for other matters."

Kaptur said that "in communities like those in Ohio and West Virginia, where the opioids crisis has destroyed so many lives, settlement funds must be allocated to include treatment and social support services that help prevent further opioid misuse and substance abuse.”

Ohio ranked number one in the nation relative to opioids -related overdose deaths in 2015 with some 3015 deaths, and in 2017 it fell to second place with some 4,293 deaths.

An average of 4,000 people die from opioids-related deaths each year in Ohio, costing the state roughly 4-5 billion dollars annually.

Thousands of lawsuits are popping up across the country claiming the pharmaceutical industry and drug distributers in general have fueled the opioid epidemic.

Teva, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson agreed, in October to settle and to pay $260 million to compensate communities in Summit and Cuyahoga Counties, which includes Cleveland, hit by the opioid epidemic, according to the Wall Street Journal (paywall). The fifth defendant in the case, Walgreens Boots Alliance, didn’t reach a deal and the trial against it has been delayed.

“Many states used money they received from the tobacco settlements in the 1990’s for transportation projects and balancing budgets instead of prevention efforts," said McKinley. "Twenty years later, we are seeing settlements being reached with communities impacted by the opioid crisis."

Rep. McKinley said that "we must not repeat the same mistakes, and these funds must be used to help address the crisis and not as a slush fund for other projects."

Kaptur and McKinley said that if passed, the legislation will "serve as a guardrail, ensuring money from settlements related to the opioid crisis are used for treatment, prevention, education and enforcement.”

The bill outlines that funds from these settlements be used for: