Opioid Abatement Authority receives first funds secured through Herring’s opioid litigation

The Opioid Abatement Authority has received the first funds secured through Attorney General Mark R. Herring’s ongoing work to hold accountable the drug manufacturers, distributors, and others that helped create and prolong the opioid crisis.

The more than $11.3 million that Virginia has received through a multistate settlement with McKinsey & Company for its role in “turbocharging” the opioid crisis will be used by the Authority to support opioid abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery programs around the Commonwealth.

The Opioid Abatement Authority was created earlier this year by legislation from Herring to ensure that funds secured through his ongoing opioid litigation are used to address the opioid crisis in the Commonwealth.

“It was so important for me to ensure that any funds I secured through my ongoing litigation with opioid manufacturers and distributors went back into the communities that were devastated by the opioid crisis,” Herring said. “No dollar amount will ever bring back the Virginians that we have lost to opioids or make their families whole again, but we can fund crucial prevention, treatment and recovery programs to truly help those who are suffering. One of my proudest achievements as attorney general has been my work on combating the opioid crisis, and the support my team and I have been able to provide to the recovery community.”

The Opioid Abatement Authority is controlled by subject matter experts to ensure that funds are used wisely to support prevention, treatment, and recovery. The Board of the Opioid Abatement Authority includes:

• The Secretary of Health & Human Resources or their designee
• Two medical professionals with expertise in public and behavioral health administration or opioid use disorders and their treatment
• A representative of the addiction and recovery community
• An urban or suburban representative from a community services board
• A rural representative from a community services board
• A law enforcement official
• A local government official
• A local government attorney
• Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations or their designee and the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee on Appropriations or their designee

The abatement funds will be partitioned in the following way:

• 70 percent for opioid abatement split evenly (35% each) between 1) regional projects and 2) other projects identified as effective by the board of experts.
• 15 percent reserved for state-identified abatement initiatives
• 15 percent reserved for locality-identified abatement initiatives