The Fredericksburg City Council has approved an agreement between Virginia Attorney Mark Herring regarding allocating funds obtained through court settlements concerning the opioid crisis.

According to City Attorney Dooley, the city's piece of the litigation pie is expected to be between $300,000 and $400,000. While Fredericksburg has not set a plan for the disbursement of funds from the settlement, a percentage of what the city could get has been set by the Virginia Attorney General. 

The agreement allows 30 percent of the settlement funds to be distributed to participating localities such as Fredericksburg. Of that take, 15 percent would be used for approved opioid reduction costs, while the other 15 percent would be totally unrestricted and used by the city on other items.

Another 55 percent of funds received by the commonwealth would go into the Opioid Abatement Authority and Fund from which localities would be qualified to pull from for opioid reduction purposes.

Ward 3 Councilman Dr. Timothy Duffy called the agreement a warning shot to big business and a reminder of their responsibilities to the people.

"We have an industry that preyed on the public in a way that was appalling, a gross amount of these opioids flooded into town, throughout the country, in ways that far exceeded what could have been done for public benefit, and greed was certainly at the base of it," said Duffy. 

The opioid crisis has taken a toll on the community, he adds.

"We can't forget the appalling cost that has come to families in our city, our region, our country. There isn't anyone who doesn't know someone who's suffered from the scourge of opioid addiction."

The opioid epidemic was declared a public health emergency by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services due to the wide misuse of both prescription and non-prescription opioid medications. According to numbers provided by HHS, it was estimated that 10.1 million people had misused such drugs in 2019 alone and that 70,630 people had died as a result of drug overdoses.

Along with many other localities and states, Fredericksburg had filed a civil litigation lawsuit against various companies involved in the production, sale, and distribution of medical-grade opiates. The suit seeks to recover costs associated with opioid addiction.

Other localities such Arlington, Prince William, and Fairfax Counties have already approved similar understandings with the Attorney General.

This agreement is the latest result in Fredericksburg's lawsuit against companies involved in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain since its inception in May 2019 when the City Council declared the opioid crisis a public nuisance.

According to Fredericksburg City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, some of the defendants in the lawsuit are seeking to end these lawsuits through settlements. Some of those defendants include McKesson, AmerisourceBergan, and Cardinal Health, collectively considered the big three companies in opioid distribution. Jansen/Johnson & Johnson is also expected to make a settlement as well.