A national database tracking the spending of opioid settlement funds found Connecticut and other states sat on millions of dollars of that money during 2022 and 2023.
The data, compiled by the nonprofit KFF Health News, found Connecticut received $85 million in opioid settlement funds in 2022 and 2023.
Of that money, $80.5 million was not spent or allocated by the state’s Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee, according to KFF.
“Connecticut is not the only one like this – West Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia,” also followed suit, said Aneri Pattani of KFF.
“You have people who look at that and say, there are $80 million sitting there while folks are dying on the street, while they couldn't get into treatment.”
CT accelerates opioid settlement spending in recent months
The KFF database was launched last December. Since then, Connecticut has stepped up the pace.
In January, the state’s settlement committee allocated $58.6 million – its largest allocation to date – to fund a new housing program for unhoused people with opioid use disorder.
Connecticut was part of a nationwide effort to secure more than $50 billion to counter the opioid epidemic. From that, the state secured $600 million to support treatment, prevention and recovery.
In January, an additional $1.4 billion was added to a nationwide settlement with members of the Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma, Inc, for its role in the opioid crisis.
Following that announcement, Nancy Navarretta, commissioner of Connecticut’s Mental Health and Addiction Services, detailed how the state was already spending its settlement money.
“Previous to this announcement, we've already put out $91.3 million out the door, with the help of my colleagues who are on the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee,” Navarretta said. “These initiatives will strengthen prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction efforts across the state.”
CT’s push to expand sterile syringe access
In Connecticut, about 20% of the state’s allocations went toward expanding syringe service programs.
In November 2023, the state’s settlement committee approved $500,000 to expand harm reduction supplies via seven agencies, including the Connecticut Harm Reduction Alliance. The move came after committee members and lawmakers expressed frustration over delays in allocating the funds.
Harm reduction agencies provide sterile needles to people with opioid use disorder, carry the fentanyl overdose reversal drug Naloxone, connect people to treatment and offer social supports, including housing.
Pattani, with KFF, noted Connecticut’s push to make sterile syringes more widely available was not a national trend.
“It's one of the areas that public health officials recommend people spend this money,” Pattani said. “However across the country, less than 2% of the opioid settlement funds that we tracked went towards syringe service programs.”
