Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks at Tuesday’s news conference with Jason Harlen, CEO at Wyoming Valley Alcohol & Drug Services, at left; Ross Livingstone, the agency’s board chair; and Lori Mrochko, clinical supervisor.
                                 Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks at Tuesday’s news conference with Jason Harlen, CEO at Wyoming Valley Alcohol & Drug Services, at left; Ross Livingstone, the agency’s board chair; and Lori Mrochko, clinical supervisor.

Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

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<p>Jason Harlen, CEO at Wyoming Valley Alcohol & Drug Services, speaks at Tuesday’s news conference with Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, left, Ross Livingstone, the agency’s board chair; and Lori Mrochko, clinical supervisor.</p>
                                 <p>Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader</p>

Jason Harlen, CEO at Wyoming Valley Alcohol & Drug Services, speaks at Tuesday’s news conference with Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, left, Ross Livingstone, the agency’s board chair; and Lori Mrochko, clinical supervisor.

Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

KINGSTON — State Attorney General Josh Shapiro Tuesday met with leaders of the Wyoming Valley Alcohol and Drug Services to discuss how $1 billion headed to the state for opioid treatment could be used here, as well as impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Pennsylvanians with substance use disorder.

That money is part of the recently announced $26 billion nationwide opioid settlement.

“We are here to learn about the treatment being offered to those with addiction,” said Shapiro said. “There is so much poison in our community. Since I’ve been attorney general, we have arrested more than 7,000 drug dealers and we have taken on major pharmaceutical companies. We are certain that the focus should be on treatment.”

In July, Shapiro announced a historic agreement with Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen — the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors — and Johnson & Johnson, which manufactured and marketed opioids, to deliver up to $26 billion to address the opioid crisis. The agreements also require significant industry changes that will help prevent this type of crisis from happening again.

“No amount of money, no number of sanctions, will be able to right these wrongs,” Shapiro said. “But this settlement puts in place controls that will go a long way to make sure that this never happens again, and the money that will come to Pennsylvania will help offer and expand life-saving treatment options across our Commonwealth.”

Shapiro, a Democrat, recently announced his candidacy for governor in 2022.

Luzerne County statistics

Luzerne County Coroner Francis Hacken recently reported that the county had 128 drug overdose deaths in 2019 and 179 last year. This year to date there are 180 confirmed or pending toxicology results, and he predicts the county will end 2021 with more than 200.

About 75% involve the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, he said.

“Fentanyl is affecting teenagers to people in their 60s,” Hacken said. “It’s affecting our society to a great extent.”

He does not foresee fentanyl losing its grip in 2022 and said the overdose deaths have caused a “drastic” increase in toxicology and autopsy expenses.

Joining Shapiro at Tuesday’s news conference were Jason Harlen, CEO at Wyoming Valley Alcohol and Drug Services; Ross Livingstone, the agency’s board chair; and Lori Mrochko, clinical supervisor.

“People are dying every day,” Harlen said. “We were very pleased to meet with Attorney General Shapiro today. We need more people like him in this battle.”

Harlen said that over the past 15 years, he has seen the street price of heroin drop from about $20 for a small bag to $2 or $3 for the same quantity, putting the drug in reach for more people.

Shapiro said the agreement would resolve the claims of both states and local governments across the country, including the nearly 4,000 that have filed lawsuits in federal and state courts. States and their local governments will receive maximum payments if each state and its local governments join together in support of the agreement.

“We know two things to be true: the cost of this epidemic is immense — far more than this deal — and this agreement is the best way to deliver the most help to communities in need, right now,” Shapiro said. “This sends a message to drug distributors and pharmaceutical companies that we won’t accept this behavior, and that we’re here to always fight for the people we serve.”

Shapiro said Pennsylvania was one of the lead states in negotiating the deals. Pennsylvania’s share will be distributed among the Commonwealth and local governments pursuant to an intrastate allocation agreement.

Pennsylvania stands to receive a maximum combined payment of approximately $1 billion for full participation across both agreements.

Funding overview

• The three distributors collectively will pay up to $21 billion over 18 years.

• Johnson & Johnson will pay up to $5 billion over nine years with up to $3.7 billion paid during the first three years.

• The total funding distributed will be determined by the overall degree of participation by both litigating and non-litigating state and local governments.

• The substantial majority of the money is to be spent on opioid treatment and prevention.

Each state’s share of the funds was determined by agreement among the states using a formula that takes into account the impact of the crisis on the state–including the number of overdose deaths, the number of residents with substance use disorder, the quantity of opioids delivered — and the population of the state.

Tragically, just last year, overdose deaths rose to a record 93,000, a nearly 30 percent increase over the prior year.

In Pennsylvania, overdose deaths increased to 5,172, meaning an average of 14 Pennsylvanians died of drug overdoses each day.

From 2017-2020, 16,897 Pennsylvanians lost their lives to drug overdoses.

Many, many more have seen their lives torn apart by the disease of addiction. The damage also impacts their families and friends and their broader communities that suffer the consequences.

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.