Our Fight Against the Opioid Crisis
We in County government are constantly doing everything we can think of to combat the opioid crisis. Heroin and other drugs have stolen too many of our residents over these past few years, particularly our young people.
Without question, this epidemic has resulted in inherent costs that so far have been unfairly borne by our taxpayers including costs to local law enforcement and first responders, counseling and assistance to our residents facing this crisis, and treatment costs for those battling addiction.
In 2019, Rockland County took swift action against the bad actors in big pharma fueling the opioid epidemic by pursuing legal action against manufacturers and distributors of prescription opiates.
On behalf of the County of Rockland, we joined these lawsuits to have these companies pay for the damage, death and destruction their outrageous marketing strategies brought to our communities, and I’m proud to confirm we were successful in that endeavor.
With respect to the New York settlement, the amount being allocated to Rockland is over $10 million that will be distributed over 18 years. This includes the New York settlement with certain distributors in which Rockland is receiving $8 million distributed over 18 years, the Johnson and Johnson settlement in which Rockland is receiving $1.7 million distributed over 10 years and Rockland’s allocated share of the Allergan settlement, estimated to be $616,459 in a single payment.
This legal battle was never about the money. These settlements are our way of holding these companies accountable for their role in this crisis while providing some justice for the many, many victims. These lawsuits have shown the pharmaceutical industry that profits should never come before people.
Rockland is continuing to take a comprehensive approach to combat substance use issues and the opioid epidemic, and this legal action is just the latest step.
In Rockland, we’re making progress in the war on drugs with overdose deaths in our County down 50% compared to the beginning of last year. Our Department of Mental Health says the decrease is a credit to the combined effort of everything being done to combat the crisis countywide, which the County hopes to bolster with these settlement funds.
Rockland will use the settlement funds for new initiatives including launching our 311 Behavioral Health Helpline, a dedicated helpline staffed by trained clinicians that will be available 24/7 to provide support and referrals, and medical screenings and intervention using the SBIRT (Screening Brief Intervention Referral to Treatment) method to strengthen prevention, early intervention, and treatment of opioid use.
Rockland will continue to partner with local providers to distribute Fentanyl test strips, conduct Narcan trainings and provide peer support.
Our County also will continue to strengthen our detoxification, inpatient rehabilitation, and intensive outpatient services, and so much more.
However, I know we can do better, and we will do better because losing even one life to this epidemic is one life too many.
Anyone fighting this crisis will never have to fight it alone, and I encourage you to check out the resources available by following this link:
