CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources announced Monday it will use $22 million from settlements with drug distributors to combat West Virginia’s drug epidemic.
The department plans to use the funds to ensure treatment beds are provided for those dealing with drug addiction. It also plans to evaluate where the greatest need for drug treatment services is and utilize an application process to allow private groups to build necessary facilities.
During this year’s legislative session, the West Virginia passed House Bill 2428 — or the Ryan Brown Addiction Prevention and Recovery Fund — to mandate the department has to ensure enough beds are available to provide service.
“These funds will help DHHR continue critical substance abuse initiatives, and will complement existing prevention, treatment and recovery service,” department Secretary Bill Crouch said in a statement.
The Governor’s Advisory Council on Substance Abuse was also named as the advisory board for the Office of Drug Control Policy.
“This initiative will focus on long term treatment services, which is a much needed component to providing help to those individuals in need of treatment services,” said Dr. Rahul Gupta, State Health Officer and Commissioner for the Bureau of Public Health. “They are a welcome addition to the services currently available and will be an integral part of our coordinated and comprehensive approach to combatting the epidemic, led by the new Office of Drug Control Policy.”
The settlements resolved allegations that companies failed to detect and report the shipping of suspicious prescription drug orders into West Virginia.