‘Too many are dying’; drug companies’ opioid settlement to help Chicago aid drug users

Workers with the West Side Heroin and Opioid Task Force set up a table near Roosevelt Road and South Albany Avenue on the West Side to provide people with Narcan Nasal Spray, 0.4mg/ml of Naloxone and syringes to treat drug overdoses, Tim Devitt, a therapist who volunteers with the task force, said he hopes some of the city’s opioid settlement money will be spent on providing drug users with “foundational support” — housing, health care and job-placement help — that can prepare them to enter rehabilitation programs. (Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times)

A $26 billion legal settlement that drug companies have agreed to with state and local governments across the country will provide Chicago with millions of dollars a year to help people suffering from opioid addiction, the mayor’s office said Friday.

The state of Illinois was among governments that sued drug manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals, whose parent company is Johnson & Johnson. The state also sued pharmaceutical distributors McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen.