BUFFALO – New York Attorney General Leticia James announced that Western New York will receive anywhere from $41 million to $75 million in an effort to fight the opioid crisis.
James was joined by Erie County officials to discuss the epidemic and the effects experienced by Western New York during her ‘HealNY’ tour. The State’s top prosecutor says that the time is now to change the trajectory of the crisis.
“The opioid epidemic has caused havoc, it’s destroyed families, it’s caused individuals to lose hope,” James said. “We’ve lost countless amount of lives, and no amount of money, no amount of money, will ever bring them back. But what we can do is prevent this from happening.
James thanked the State Legislature for placing funds that were received from a $4.5 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma for their role in the ongoing opioid epidemic that’s ravaged throughout New York and the United States, as a whole.
Cattaraugus County will receive anywhere between $765,411.42 and $1,321,645.52, while Chautauqua County will be allocated anywhere between $1,479,959.48 and $2,555,464.62. Those figures represent the minimum and maximum amounts each county can receive from the settlements with Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, Cardinal Health, Amerisource Bergen, and Endo.
The AG’s office says those figures do not include payments from Purdue Pharma or the Sackler family, as the regional split for those payments are still being finalized. Those funds, as well as any funds from future or ongoing litigation, would be in addition to what is listed.
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