Georgia gets millions in huge opioid deal.  But a lack of transparency worries supporters

Advocates of substance use disorder recovery say they are frustrated by the worsening of Georgia’s opioid epidemic.

“The problem, particularly of opiate overdose and opiate use and abuse, is spiraling out of control,” Georgia Council on Substance Abuse Executive Director Neil Campbell said shortly after news of upcoming settlement funds broke earlier this week.

Two of the largest US pharmacy chains, CVS Health and Walgreen Co., announced agreements in principle to pay about $5 billion each to settle lawsuits nationwide over opioid tolls, and an attorney said Walmart is in talks on an agreement, NPR reported.

Georgia lawmakers joined the Opioid Accord and passed Senate Bill 500, authorizing a lawsuit preventing local governments from filing further lawsuits against Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen – the country’s three largest pharmaceutical distributors – and the opioid maker and – marketer Johnson & Johnson.

This settlement agreement is expected to bring the state and its local governments a total of $636,230,843.82 towards opioid control to be paid over a 17-year period.

Campbell said the amount of fentanyl on the streets has increased while advocates in the recovery community have asked when Georgia will see money.

The number of fentanyl overdose-related deaths has increased since the pandemic began, increasing more than 106% between May 2020 and April 2021, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Those important opioid settlement funds could be used to buy Narcan and fentanyl test strips, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law to decriminalize them by no longer considering them drug paraphernalia.

Testing street drugs for fentanyl can save lives as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation found the deadly opioid in fake Adderall, Xanax and in non-opioid cocaine.

“Some drug users look for fentanyl for the high price and the low price,” said Laura Edison of the DPH, “but often drug users do not know they are taking fentanyl, and just one pill can kill if you have the wrong pill.”

While neighboring states have plans, Campbell said she has not been able to identify a source of specific information about Georgia’s process of distributing settlement funds.

Campbell said SB 500 is establishing 11 regional advisory bodies with the power to appoint members, but nothing was said about how the councils would operate, their standards or policies.

“It’s important because with that funding and that support, really important decisions are being made,” she said. “So who gets these appointments?”

The bill mandates that there will be three people representing each advisory board, said GCSA’s Jeff Breedlove.

These roles are filled by a law enforcement officer, a health officer, and a community service board member in each of the 11 regions. That includes the six regions identified by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, the city of Atlanta and four other community-selected counties in the Atlanta metropolitan area, Breedlove said.

Those three council members then have the power to appoint up to four other board members, but it’s unclear how that process would work.

“And legally these three could spend all that money and it would be perfectly legal,” Breedlove said. “And they could even spend the money on themselves. And that would be perfectly legal. And the public could never have known it happened until it did.”

Breedlove said local elected officials also have no answers.

“What we are looking for is the relevant authorities to establish the timeline and protocols for applying and appointing people,” he said.

With up to seven people admitted, not having at least one peer advocate and family member who has lost a loved one to the addiction is unacceptable, he said.

People who have completed the CARES program training and are in recovery simply want to help by offering their lived experience and wisdom.

“We know that the essence of recovery is giving back,” Campbell said. “And so we want to pass on our experience. We want to pass on our knowledge. We want to give our connections to the community.”

This story comes to Reporter Newspapers / Atlanta Intown through a reporting partnership with GPB News, a non-profit Georgia newsroom.