Delaware’s Prescription Opioid Settlement Fund continues to grow, but distribution of those funds will likely not resume until next year.
Delaware has received close to $70 million in settlement funds to help abate the opioid crisis throughout the state. The most recent addition is $2.7 million, which comes from a nationwide $1.37 billion settlement agreement with the Kroger grocery chain.
Additionally, Kroger has agreed to injunctive relief that requires its pharmacies to monitor, report and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions. Kroger owns the Harris Teeter grocery store chain, which operates in Delaware.
This is the twelfth opioid defendant with whom Attorney General Kathy Jennings has entered into a settlement that provided funds to abate the opioid crisis in Delaware, but more are underway.
Director of Fraud and Consumer Protection Owen Lefkon says this is one of the smaller settlement amounts Delaware has received, but the state is still participating in mediation efforts with the Sackler family of Purdue Pharma.
That settlement is estimated to be worth around $8 billion and will be distributed to participating states if a negotiated deal is reached.
“If that mediation fails, we will be looking at all of our options to hold them accountable. But the best path forward for the opioid crisis in Delaware, and its victims, is to get as much money as we can, as quickly as possible," he said.
But as funds keep trickling in, no money is expected to be delivered to organizations until at least next year following fraud concerns with one of the selected grant recipients.
While 12 additional grant recipients have been undergoing audits, the Prescription Opioid Settlement Distribution Commission (POSDC) announced the hiring of external contractor Social Contract to evaluate the commission's grant distribution process.
Those recommendations were released two weeks ago, which encourage the commission to overhaul its eligibility criteria and grant application, explains State Solicitor Patty David.
“They projected that that first round of changes is something that we could get done by the end of the year. The Governance Committee has already undertaken a lot of those recommendations. So the recommendations have been accepted, but they haven't been fully implemented yet," Davis said.
She says being good stewards of the opioid funds is the state’s number one priority and expects funding distribution to resume early next year.
