CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is urging state lawmakers to put the $36 million in settlement money from two prescription drug wholesalers into a Trust Fund to combat the state’s drug problem.
“We want to make sure we respect their prerogative, but I’m going to be very forceful pushing to make sure that some of these monies are available for treatment and to end that back log in the state Crime Lab,” Morrisey said on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Earlier this month, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and the Attorney General’s Office announced AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health will pay $16 million and $20 million to resolve allegations of shipping massive amounts of prescription pain medication into the state. Both companies deny any wrongdoing.
Morrisey said the state Legislature will decide how part of this money is spent. The governor requested the money be put into the Trust Fund to use for drug treatment and drug rehabilitation.
“We want to make sure this money is used the right way, but ultimately, that issue is not just up to me. That’s up to the Legislature to decide,” Morrisey said. “I want to sit down with the Legislature and the new governor and think about new approaches for coordination and this may be part of that discussion.”
The settlement ended a more than four year legal battle between the state and 12 pharmaceutical companies. In total, $47 million will be paid to the state.
“When you have an office that breaks the record for pharmaceutical settlement — $47 million for everything in the entirety, $36 million for those two companies — that’s a lot. That’s going to sting those companies pretty good,” Morrisey said.
AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health are required to pay the full amounts by Mar. 1.
Morrisey said his office can’t fight this drug issue alone.
“I believe everyone needs to be part of the solution — prescribors, dispensors, wholesalers, manufacturers and the government,” he said.