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Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson says drug settlement money announced last week will mainly be a boon for opioid treatment services and programs managed through the Nebraska Coalition to End Opioid Misuse. That’s a partnership between state and federal law institutions, including the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Nebraska State Patrol, and the DEA, among others
“That group is prepared to get really focused on the treatment,” Peterson said. “In fact, we've been talking about this in anticipation of the settlement, how best to serve the complete state of Nebraska with treatment programs.”
Although Nebraska is not receiving as much from the settlement as states with larger populations that suffered more deaths at the hands of the crisis, Peterson says $100 million spread over two decades can still go a long way.
“Frankly, there's no citizen in the state of Nebraska who won't be able to get strong opioid abuse treatment through their physicians and into the programs we hope to develop here in Nebraska,” said Peterson.
In addition to treatment, the Attorney General said the money will also go toward law enforcement and prevention services.
Dr. Kenneth Zoucha is an Addiction Medicine Fellowship-Program Director and works with those seeking treatment for opioid abuse. He said the funds would make it feasible to train every physician in the state in opioid diagnoses and treatment.
"I think that the medical community is doing a better job of teaching our young physicians, our budding physicians about those things,” said Zoucha. "I think that if we could provide that service and provide that education for providers that are already in practice, I think that would be a helpful thing for them.”
The pharmaceutical companies paying into the lawsuit include Johnson and Johnson and Cardinal.