Attorney General, district attorneys at odds over $1 billion opioid settlement

Pennsylvania is slated to receive about $1 billion from a settlement with drug distributors over the opioid crisis.But there is a major dispute among the state's top prosecutors over whether to accept that money or go to court to seek more.District attorneys in Philadelphia and Allegheny County have filed suit to block the settlement reached by Attorney General Josh Shapiro and attorneys general from other states.Shapiro, during an appearance at Greenbriar Treatment Center in Washington County, said the state needs the money now to help with treatment. Greenbriar CEO Mary Banaszak said they desperately need more funding."We need more staff. We need more therapists. We need more nurses and nurses are hard to find right now," Banaszak said.But a letter from Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala filed as part of a lawsuit calls the settlement a "sham that should not prolong coordination of the pending actions or otherwise prohibit my office from moving forward with its cases on behalf of the residents of Allegheny County."Zappala also said the settlement offers "absolutely no guarantee that local governments will get any meaningful relief, even if all local governments opt into the deal."Zappala's lawsuit said Allegheny County would get as little as $2 million per year from the settlement, which falls far short of its needs.Shapiro said Allegheny County and Philadelphia would take a major risk by opting out of the settlement."Neither Allegheny nor Philadelphia even have a court date. They are years and years and years away from having a court date," Shapiro said.By the time they go to court, Shapiro said the drug distributors who are defendants in the case could be bankrupt. "The net effect of all that is years would go by and they would likely end up with nothing," he said.Counties and municipalities have until late December to decide whether to be part of the settlement. In a statement, Allegheny County Solicitor Andy Szefi said, "We plan on participating and are currently in discussions regarding the settlement."