Led by state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Washington is doing an admirable job of holding manufacturers and distributors accountable for an ongoing opioid crisis.
The key word there is “ongoing,” as opioids — both prescribed and illicit — create a growing scourge. A dashboard launched in April by the state Department of Health shows that overdose deaths in Clark County rose from 58 in 2016 to 117 in 2021.
And those are just the deaths. Opioid abuse contributes to homelessness, crime and other social maladies that diminish our communities.
Last week, Ferguson announced that Washington has secured $371.8 million to settle a lawsuit against four companies that manufacture or sell opioids. Walgreens, for example, will pay $120.3 million over 15 years; CVS will pay $110.7 million over 10 years.
About half of those funds will go to the state, while the remainder will be doled out to cities and counties. Clark County will receive $18 million, while four cities in the county will receive an additional $9 million.
“These resources are flowing to every corner of the state to address the fentanyl crisis and improve treatment options,” Ferguson said. “This will save lives and make our communities safer.”
The payments reflect a continuing effort by Ferguson’s office. Combined with earlier agreements, Washington has secured more than $1.1 billion to be paid over 15 years to fight the opioid epidemic.
Drug abusers warrant some blame for the crisis; we should not absolve addicts of consequences for their actions. But such a narrow view would allow corporations to avoid accountability for their role, and it would do little to solve the problem.
Multiple court filings over the past decade have indicated how drug companies lied about the addictive properties of pain killers in order to increase profits. In one case, a Clark County nurse practitioner prescribed $1.5 million worth of OxyContin during a six-month period in 2008. Now imagine similar practices taking place in multiple locations in every county in the state.
Adding to that is the relatively recent appearance of fentanyl throughout our communities. The scope of the problem is nearly unfathomable.
Seattle police this week arrested a driver who was asleep in an idling car and found to have more than 20 pounds of fentanyl; last month, federal officials made 24 arrests in the Puget Sound region involving 2 million doses of fentanyl; and in April, more than 160,000 fentanyl pills were seized in Eastern Washington.
The list goes on, and it represents the daunting task facing elected officials and the public in dealing with the situation.
With help from the latest settlement, local governments can play a key role in providing treatment, education and law enforcement to attack the problem. Most important is a combination of punitive and corrective measures, holding abusers accountable for their actions while also providing adequate and effective treatment.
Legislators this year had difficulty agreeing on the proper balance, but efforts must continue. Increased treatment options are necessary — and expansion of treatment facilities must be an urgent priority — but those options are effective only if addicts can be compelled to seek them out. And they are effective only if city leaders make clear that public drug use is not tolerated; Seattle, in particular, must learn that lesson.
By demanding accountability from those who enable addiction, Washington is doing what it can to address the opioid scourge.
