Latest California Healthline Stories
Watch: John Oliver Dishes on KFF Health News’ Opioid Settlements Series
A recent broadcast of “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” frequently cited KFF Health News in its examination of how billions of dollars from the opioid settlements are being spent.
Tribal Nations Invest Opioid Settlement Funds in Traditional Healing To Treat Addiction
Hundreds of Native American tribes are getting money from settlements with companies that made or sold prescription painkillers. Some are investing it in sweat lodges, statistical models, and insurance-billing staffers.
Swap Funds or Add Services? Use of Opioid Settlement Cash Sparks Strong Disagreements
The national opioid settlements don’t prohibit using money for initiatives already supported by other means, but doing so could dilute the impact.
Track Opioid Settlement Payouts — To the Cent — In Your Community
Want to know how much opioid settlement money your city, county, or state has received so far? Or how much it’s expecting in the future? Use our new searchable database to find out.
Statistical Models vs. Front-Line Workers: Who Knows Best How to Spend Opioid Settlement Cash?
A mathematical model designed to direct spending of opioid settlement funds is at the center of a debate over whether to invest in technology to guide long-term decisions or focus on the immediate needs of people in addiction.
Federal Lawmakers Take First Steps Toward Oversight of $50 Billion in Opioid Settlements
The four-page bill lists how states should spend settlement money, but it doesn’t specify consequences for flouting the rules or name who is in charge of monitoring compliance.
The Year in Opioid Settlements: 5 Things You Need to Know
In the past year, opioid settlement money has gone from an emerging funding stream for which people had lofty but uncertain aspirations to a coveted pot of billions being invested in remediation efforts. Here are some important and evolving factors to watch going forward.
‘They See a Cash Cow’: Corporations Could Consume $50 Billion of Opioid Settlements
As opioid settlement dollars land in government coffers, a swarm of businesses are positioning themselves to profit from the windfall. But will their potential gains come at the expense of the settlements’ intended purpose — to remediate the effects of the opioid epidemic?
Watch and Listen: Opioid Settlement Case Triggers Protests Outside the High Court
The Supreme Court heard arguments over whether the Sacklers, the family behind Purdue Pharma — which marketed OxyContin — could claim immunity from future lawsuits without claiming bankruptcy.
Gubernatorial Candidates Quarrel Over Glory for Winning Opioid Settlements
Some gubernatorial candidates are sparring over bragging rights for their state’s share of $50 billion in opioid settlement funds. Many of the candidates are attorneys general who pursued the lawsuits that produced the payouts.