States aren't being transparent about how they're spending opioid settlement funds

WAMU 88.5 | By Michelle Harven

Published April 28, 2023 at 10:40 AM EDT

A man uses heroin under a bridge where he lives with other addicts in the Kensington section which has become a hub for heroin use in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The settlement of opioid lawsuits means that states are seeing an influx of money. Purdue, Walgreens, and Johnson & Johnson are just a few of the companies pumping over $50 billion into state and municipal budgets for addiction treatment and prevention.

But what that treatment and prevention looks like is up to interpretation.

Conversations about how to spend the money are turning contentious. In Pennsylvania, advocates are pushing back against some of that money going to law enforcement. In New York and San Francisco, groups pushing to fund safe injection sites are running into roadblocks.

And there’s another issue. Many states aren’t being transparent about how the funds are being spent.

Aneri Pattani of Kaiser Health News shares her reporting on where those settlement funds are going. We also hear from a mother who has been personally affected by the opioid epidemic.