The Pickett County Commissioners approved the Purdue Opioid Settlement, which will disburse billions of dollars nationwide for opioid abatement.
The funds to be disbursed after Purdue Pharma filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. County Executive Stephen Bilbrey said the commissioners needed to approve the plan to make the county eligible for some of the money.
“We don’t know how much money that we will receive,” Bilbrey said. “They didn’t tell, but apparently, looks like the Purdue, somewhere around $6.5 billion in all 50. Pretty much that they’ve got support from all 50 states, and it’s over a 15 year period.”
That $6.5 billion will be spread across the entire country. Bilbrey said state support came first, so county approval lets the state know that they want to be included.
Bilbrey said there may be more settlements on the way.
“I actually got another email from the state [Monday] that we’ll actually have a resolution on eight more, I think, for the August meeting if we want in on those,” Bilbrey said.
The Purdue Pharma website said the company’s assets will be transferred to a different opioid abatement company. Purdue created the over the counter naloxone, a drug meant to reverse the effects of an overdose.