Opioid settlement cash is not inherently political. It\u2019s not the result of a law passed by Congress nor an edit to the state budget. It\u2019s not taxpayer money. Rather, it\u2019s coming from health care companies that were sued for fueling the opioid crisis with prescription painkillers.<\/p>\n

But like most dollars meant to address public health crises, settlement cash has nonetheless turned into a political issue.<\/p>\n

Gubernatorial candidates in several states are clashing over who gets bragging rights for the funds \u2014 which total more than $50 billion<\/a> and are being distributed to state and local governments over nearly two decades. Among the candidates are attorneys general who pursued the lawsuits that produced the payouts. And they\u2019re eager to remind the public who brought home the bacon.<\/p>\n

\u201cScoring money for your constituency almost always plays well,\u201d said Stephen Voss<\/a>, an associate professor of political science at the University of Kentucky. It \u201cis a lot more compelling and unifying a political argument than taking a position on something like abortion,\u201d for which you risk alienating someone no matter what you say.<\/p>\n

In Kentucky, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the Republican candidate for governor, wants sole credit for the hundreds of millions of dollars his state is receiving to fight the opioid epidemic. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, he wrote<\/a> that his opponent, former attorney general and current Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, \u201cfiled a lot of lawsuits during his time [in] office, but in this race, there is only one person who has actually delivered dollars to fight the opioid epidemic, and it\u2019s not him.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Beshear filed nine opioid lawsuits during his tenure as attorney general, several of which led to the current payouts. At a January news conference<\/a>, Beshear defended his role: \u201cThat\u2019s where these dollars are coming from \u2014 cases that I filed, and I personally argued many of them in court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polls indicate that<\/a> Beshear leads Cameron ahead of the Nov. 7 election.<\/p>\n

Christine Minhee<\/a>, founder of OpioidSettlementTracker.com<\/a>, who is closely following how attorneys general handle the money nationwide, said voters likely don\u2019t know that the opioid settlements are national deals crafted by a coalition of attorneys general and private lawyers. So when one candidate claims credit for the money, his constituents may believe \u201che\u2019s the sole hero in all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Candidates in other states are touting their settlement credentials, too. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, lists securing opioid settlement funds at the top of the \u201caccomplishments\u201d section of his 2024 gubernatorial campaign website<\/a>. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey, a Republican gubernatorial candidate for 2024, has repeatedly boasted of securing the \u201chighest per capita settlements in the nation\u201d in news conferences and on social media<\/a> and his campaign website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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In Louisiana, Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican who was recently elected governor, ran on a tough-on-crime platform<\/a>, with endorsements from sheriffs and prosecutors. As attorney general, he led negotiations on dividing opioid settlement funds within the state, resulting in an agreement to send<\/a> 80% to parish governments and 20% to sheriffs\u2019 departments \u2014 the largest direct allocation to law enforcement in the nation.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a common joke that AG stands for \u201caspiring governor,\u201d and officials in that role often use big legal cases to advance their political careers. Research shows that attorneys general who participate in multistate litigation \u2014 like that which led to the opioid settlements and the tobacco settlement<\/a> before it \u2014 are more likely to run for governor or senator<\/a>.<\/p>\n
But for some advocates and people personally affected by the opioid epidemic, this injection of politics raises concerns about how settlement dollars are being spent, who is making the decisions<\/a>, and whether the money will truly address the public health crisis. Last year, more than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of cardboard memorial markers, representing people who died of drug overdoses, fill the lawn in front of the U.S. Capitol as part of a Trail of Truth event on Sept. 23. The event, organized by advocates and family members who lost loved ones, aims to push elected officials to take more action to address the country\u2019s overdose epidemic.(Aneri Pattani\/KFF Health News)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Average people \u201cdon\u2019t really care about the bragging rights as much as they care about the ability to use that funding to improve and save lives,\u201d said Shameka Parrish-Wright<\/a>, director of VOCAL-KY, an advocacy group that champions investments<\/a> in housing and health care.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I see in my state is a lot of press conferences and news pieces,\u201d said Parrish-Wright, a Democrat who is active in local politics. \u201cBut what plays out doesn\u2019t get to the people\u201d \u2014 especially those deeply affected by addiction.<\/p>\n
For example, when Beshear celebrated a decrease in the state\u2019s overdose deaths, his announcement<\/a> overlooked the increasing deaths among Black Kentuckians<\/a>, Parrish-Wright said. And when Cameron\u2019s appointee to the state\u2019s opioid abatement advisory commission announced that $42 million of settlement funds were being considered to research ibogaine<\/a> \u2014 a psychedelic drug that has shown potential to treat addiction \u2014 Parrish-Wright\u2019s first thought was \u201cmost poor people can\u2019t afford that.\u201d To obtain it, people often have to travel out of the country.<\/p>\n
$\"Shameka$
Shameka Parrish-Wright joined members of People\u2019s Action, a national advocacy organization that represents \u201cpoor and working people,\u201d outside the Drug Enforcement Administration building in Arlington, Virginia, on June 27 to call for an end to a criminal justice approach to addiction \u2014 pushing instead for investments in health care and housing.(Aneri Pattani\/KFF Health News)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The ibogaine announcement caused additional controversy. It\u2019s an experimental drug, and, if approved, the $42 million allocation would be the single-largest investment from the commission, which is housed in Cameron\u2019s agency. The Daily Beast reported<\/a> that a billionaire Republican donor backing Cameron\u2019s gubernatorial campaign stands to reap massive profits from the drug\u2019s development.<\/p>\n
Neither Cameron\u2019s office nor his campaign responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Beshear\u2019s office declined an interview request but referred KFF Health News to his previous public statements, in which he criticized the potential investment in ibogaine. He has suggested Cameron \u2014 whose campaign has emphasized support for police \u2014 is not putting his money where his mouth is.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you only provide $1 million to law enforcement and 42 to pharma, it doesn\u2019t seem like you\u2019re backing the blue. It seems like you\u2019re backing Big Pharma,\u201d Beshear said at a May news conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n
He also said his two appointees to the commission were caught off guard by the public announcement on ibogaine, despite their role overseeing settlement funds.<\/p>\n
Minhee, founder of OpioidSettlementTracker.com, said she\u2019s concerned that mixing politics with settlement funds could result in ineffective investments nationwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf some of this money is going to be politicized to advance careers of attorneys general who support the war on drugs, then that is literally using monies won by death to feed into more death,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Parrish-Wright, of VOCAL-KY, said she worries that candidates \u2014 and some voters \u2014 will forget about the significance of the money once ballots are cast.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot let it fade after the election cycle,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Her solution depends in part on politics. She\u2019s on the ballot herself Nov. 7, for a seat on Louisville\u2019s Metro Council. If she wins, she said, she intends to keep the settlement in the public conversation.<\/p>\n
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