
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will receive more than a billion dollars from pharmaceutical companies over the next 18 years as a result of a settlement from an opioid lawsuit.
Each county is getting a cut of the settlement and Delaware County Council Chair Dr. Monica Taylor says they are already implementing initiatives with their part of the first installment. In total, they’ll be receiving $63 million.
“We are working to try and directly connect individuals who are experiencing substance use disorder with programs, and services with the community houses in Delaware County will get a pouch in the mail they can use to dispose any unwanted drugs that are around the house,” she said.
Taylor says, in addition to those programs, they’re holding town hall meetings open to all residents across the county, where the opioid epidemic has devastated families.
“We are trying to engage as many people as possible to try and get their input from individuals who are on the ground who are experiencing this epidemic and who are looking for ways in which the county can help assist them,” Taylor said.
State officials estimate nearly 12,000 people in the county have a drug use disorder.
“We’ve had a round table with individuals who have lost their children due to substance use disorder, and so we’re really trying to get as much impact as possible as we try to move forward and make decisions and programs and policy that are going to help us impact the opioid epidemic.”
Delaware County’s next town hall meeting is Thursday, 6:30 p.m., at Upper Darby’s municipal building.