KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The U.S. Supreme Court decision to pause the Purdue Pharma Settlement may be more of a problem for some communities waiting for settlement money than others.
The Justices now want to review whether the Sackler Family, which owned the firm, should be permitted to get off the hook with just a $6-billion dollar payout. A payout which they say represents only a fraction of what is still coming from pharmacies, distributors and other defendants who were also sued for causing the opioid crisis, which has killed an estimated 70,000 Americans in recent years.
However, Kalamazoo County is moving full steam ahead, agreeing this week to formalize an existing working group into the County Opioid Task Force. Commissioner Jen Strebs says it will be made up of representatives of groups already on the front line of the Opioid crisis to include sectors from law enforcement to education, the hospitals and community based organizations.
Kalamazoo County itself already has a couple million dollars from early settlements in the bank with many millions more expected over the next few years, with a primary court-ordered mandate to spend most of it to address substance abuse.
County officials are still assessing the impact of the Purdue Pharma decision on them as the case progresses through the court, which is expected to mean a delay, but not the loss of funding.
reporting from John McNeill
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