Opioid-ravaged West Virginia looks to $26B deal for help

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Crumbling roofs and parking lots. Broadband glitches. Technology challenges. The priority list for Prestera Center goes beyond the mental health and addiction treatment services it provides to patients throughout West Virginia.

One thing’s for sure: In one of the epicenters of the U.S. opioid explosion, the nonprofit group really could use some money. Whether from a potential national settlement deal with big U.S. drug distribution companies or from some other source, an infusion of cash would stem the tide of losses in staffing and other areas in recent years, along with the strain caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our needs are long,” Prestera addictions counselor Kim Miller said. “We need help.”

More money could be on its way to places like Prestera across the country. This week, lawyers for state and local governments announced a potential $26 billion settlement over the toll of opioids with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and drug distribution firms AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson.

But West Virginia isn't included in the deal with the three distributors because it already settled with them and other drug wholesalers for a total of $84 million in a series of deals struck from 2017 through 2019. And state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has so far resisted sharing in the $5 billion Johnson & Johnson would contribute under the potential deal. However, the earlier deals excluded municipalities and counties, allowing for the potential of much more money to flow into the state.

Morrisey says he knows those fighting the opioid crisis need urgent support, but he’s concerned about how it would be distributed nationally. He argues that the proposed allocations are too focused on the size of each state's population and...