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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Commonwealth recently set a new milestone for opioid-related settlements.
Back in 2020, Mass. legislators created the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund to help with prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery for people suffering with opioid addiction. Money for the fund comes from lawsuits against drug companies who deceptively promoted the prescriptions and use of dangerous opioids.
The Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund is now at $101 million, after a recent settlement with Walmart added $60 million to the fund. Walmart will pay out over $3 billion for improperly dispensing Oxycontin at their pharmacies.
It’s expected that Mass. will recover over $1 billion from nationwide settlements over the next two decades.
While companies continue to face lawsuits for pushing dangerous opioids on the public without properly educating them on risks, opioid overdoses killed over 2,300 people in the Commonwealth last year, up nearly three percent from 2021.
WBZ's Jim MacKay (@JimMacKayOnAir) reports.
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