Pennsylvania Opioid Trust - Official Website

Trust Summary

The Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust (the “Trust”) was established by Order (“Order”) of the Honorable Lori Dumas of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on July 12, 2022. The Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees consisting of thirteen members. The Trust receives funds from settlements entered into by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General and opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacy chains. The Trust distributes those settlement funds to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, counties, and subdivisions for use by those entities exclusively to abate the opioid crisis in Pennsylvania.

The Trust is responsible for receiving and investing settlement money, disbursing annual settlement shares to the state, counties, and litigating subdivisions, reviewing county and subdivision certifications and annual reports on spending, and preparing an annual report and accounting for the authorizing court. The Order creating the Trust is available here. The Report to the Commonwealth Court filed November 7, 2023 is available here.

Settlement Information

Wave 1: In 2021, nationwide settlements were reached against McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen (“Distributors”) and against manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and parent company Johnson & Johnson (collectively, “J&J”). These settlements have been finalized, and payments have begun. In all, the Distributors will pay up to $21 billion over 18 years, and J&J will pay up to $5 billion over no more than nine years. Pennsylvania expects to receive up to $1.07 billion over up to 18 years from these settlements. More information about these national settlements is available here.

Wave 2: In 2022, nationwide agreements were announced between pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart, and manufacturers Allergan and Teva. These settlements are currently pending. Pennsylvania expects to receive payments for up to 15 years from these settlements. More information about the Teva and Allergan settlements is available here. Information about the CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart settlements is available here.

Mallinckrodt: In 2022, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals emerged from bankruptcy protection and agreed to a $1.7 billion national settlement. In early 2023, Pennsylvania received an initial payment of $7 million. More information about this settlement is available here.

Requests for Technical Assistance and Trust Inquiries

The Board of Trustees (“Board”) of the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust (“Trust”) is not specifically authorized to provide advance input to recipients of distributions of Trust funds (or others) with respect to a proposed use of such funds other than to advise that only uses listed on Exhibit E to the Settlement Agreements are authorized by the Settlement Agreements and the Commonwealth Court Order (“Order”) establishing the Trust. Recognizing that recipients may need some level of guidance on such authorized uses, and in an effort to maximize appropriate uses of such funds in compliance with the Settlement Agreements and Order, a technical advisory group meets to consider various submitted questions raised by recipients of Trust funds (or others). Such responses should be considered informational in nature and should not be considered to be deliberations, the results of deliberations or official action of the Board of Trustees or the technical advisory group.

Requests for technical assistance and inquiries should be submitted via the Contact Us form. Prior to submitting a request, please review the FAQs. Requests for additional information or guidance not previously answered will be considered by the technical advisory group and the full Board of Trustees prior to receiving a response.