While the settlement James helped negotiate stipulated that the funds must be used “to the extent practicable” to address the opioid epidemic, a provision in New York State law prevents a state agency or official from determining how money acquired through a settlement can be allocated.
‘Blood money’ from opioid settlement diverted from fighting addiction, advocates say | Local News
After a three-year decline from 2016 to 2019, fatal opiate overdoses in Erie County jumped from 156 in 2019 to 232 in 2020.
State Sen. Peter Harckham, chairman of the Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, said he is working with the attorney general to make sure such a diversion doesn’t happen