New York receives first money from billions in settlements by opioid makers
MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. - There was a milestone Tuesday in the opioid epidemic.
New York state is receiving its first dollars from the billions in legal settlements nationwide with opioid makers.
As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reports, the funds are promised to communities that have been most impacted.
It was Victor Ciappa's daughter Natalie whose death 14 years ago served as a tragic wakeup call. Opioid pain pill use led to a fatal heroin overdose.
"Kids need to be taught the horrors of drugs and drug addiction from elementary school. You cant drum it into their heads enough how dangerous this is," Victor Ciappa said.
The opioid epidemic has claimed 500,000 lives, including a record 100,000 deaths just last year. Now, billions of dollars are headed to desperately needed education, and treatment.
Attorney General Letitia James announced the first settlement money from suing big pharma: $197 million for New York, including $47 million for Long Island. Nassau County will receive approximately $20.5 million, and Suffolk $26.5 million.
"These large settlement will hold these drug companies accountable and they will prevent drug companies from engaging in deception going forward and help new Yorkers end the cycle of hopelessness and addiction," James said.
Suffolk was the first to take opioid makers to court for flooding the market with highly addictive pain meds that led to overdoses.
"This wasn't caused by some drug pushers on the street. This was the result of decisions made by corporations - some names we know well - that made a decision to put profits over people," said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.
Both Nassau and Suffolk Counties have formed taskforces to determine where the money will be spent, including education, prevention, access to drug treatment on demand, family support and interventions.
"I don't think anyone views it as a victory, considering the human toll we have all experienced," said Steven Chassman, director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. "I think it's justice that there is some accountability, but we need to make these resources work to change the dynamics, and change the stigma, and the paradigm, of how we deal with substance abuse disorders in this country."
Ciappa welcomes the money.
"The model kid, like Natalie. That's the kid that you're not expecting to get involved. We were blindsided," he said.
Ciappa says we must teach parents and communities how to recognize the earliest signs of addiction.
James says there will be additional money coming, and that this is only a piece of the $1.5 billion in settlements.
For 24/7 substance abuse hotline in Suffolk County, call (631) 979-1700.
