Oregon Opioid Settlement Funds
Since July 2021, the State of Oregon has reached agreement on national lawsuits against several companies for their role in the opioid crisis. Through these agreements, nearly $600 million will be awarded to Oregon over the course of 18 years.
As of February 2024, funds have been received from:
- Distributor Settlement payments (settlements between the State of Oregon and participating subdivisions and McKesson, Cardinal and AmerisourceBergen)
- Janssen Settlement payments (settlement between the State of Oregon and participating subdivisions and Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Incorporated, and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Incorporated)
- Mallinckrodt Settlement payments (settlement between the State of Oregon and participating subdivisions and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals)
- Teva & Allergan Settlement payments (settlement between the State of Oregon and participating subdivisions and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. And Allergan Pharmaceuticals)
- CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart Settlement payments (settlements between the State of Oregon and participating subdivisions and CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart pharmacies)
- Publicis Worldwide (not subject to 55/45% split with subdivisions)
- Additional restitution funds from Oregon Department of Justice (not subject to 55/45% split with subdivisions)
Additional payments are pending from settlements with Endo Health Solutions, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Kroger, and Purdue Pharma.
These funds can be used for a wide variety of opioid prevention, treatment, and recovery strategies
(Exhibit E Approved Uses).
Settlement funds from opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies are divided between the State of Oregon (45%) and local jurisdictions (55%) pursuant to
Oregon's intrastate allocation agreements. The state’s share is deposited as it becomes available into the Opioid Settlement, Prevention, Treatment and Recovery (OSPTR) Fund required by
2022 House Bill 4098. This fund is controlled by the 18-member
Oregon Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Board. Oregon Health Authority provides staff support to the OSPTR Fund and Board.
Throughout the current fiscal biennium which ends in June 2025, approximately $91.2 million will be deposited into the OSPTR Fund.
In January 2024 the OSPTR Board voted to allocate $27.7 million to the nine
Federally Recognized Tribes in Oregon – this is equivalent to 30% of all funds anticipated this biennium. This 30% set-aside will continue throughout the life of the fund as additional settlement payments are deposited.
After the Tribal set-aside, the OSPTR Board is disbursing the funds across eight categories:
OSPTR Board spending decisions to date:
- Harm Reduction: $13.7 million to the
Save Lives Oregon Harm Reduction Clearinghouse, to distribute naloxone and other life-saving supplies to qualified entities.
- Leadership, Planning and Coordination: $4 million to develop a unified and evidence-based state system for collecting, analyzing and publishing data about the availability and efficacy of substance use prevention, treatment and recovery services in Oregon as required by
2022 House Bill 4098.
- Primary Prevention: $13.7 million to counties, community-based organizations, Regional Health Equity Coalitions, and the Oregon Council for Behavioral Health to increase and strengthen Oregon’s substance use disorder prevention workforce.
- Recovery: $13.08 million to establish Recovery Community Centers in counties with the greatest need; support personnel at Oxford House Recovery Housing, and expand culturally specific and youth recovery services in Recovery Community Centers.
- Treatment: $13.08 million to add mobile and non-mobile medication units to existing Oregon Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs), and for Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) to provide training and technical assistance to jails to improve access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and foster collaboration with OTP providers.
- Emerging Issues: $1.25 million to fund a mobile or non-mobile OTP medication unit in Redmond
2022 House Bill 4098 allows up to 5% of the OSPTR Fund to go to administrative expenses such as staffing, fund management, contracts, and grants management. A total of $1.3 million has been set aside for administrative expenses to date.