(The Center Square) — Louisiana is set to receive $600 million in opioid settlement funds between 2022 and 2038. There were over 5,000 opioid involved overdose deaths in Louisiana alone between 2019 and 2023.
A recent report released by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor showed that the state had 1,083 opioid-involved deaths in 2023, which is a 92% increase from 2019.
In a map broken down by opioid-involved parish deaths from 2019 through 2023, it shows Caddo Parish had 70 deaths, and Bossier Parish had 35 to 38 deaths. The parish in Louisiana with the highest number of deaths during this time frame was Jefferson Parish with 960.
When it comes to the expenditures, the Louisiana Opioid Abatement Taskforce has disbursed $98.5 million in opioid settlement funds. These funds were distributed among parishes and sheriffs in the state. According to a survey conducted by the auditor’s office, 20 parishes and 24 sheriffs in Louisiana have spent $8.6 million of the settlement funds since September of last year.
Caddo and Bossier Parishes were among the parishes and sheriffs to receive settlement funds from 2023 to 2024. As of October 2024, Caddo Parish received $3.6 million in settlement funds and the sheriff received $904,054. Bossier Parish received $1.48 million, while the sheriff received $370,117.
The Center Square reached out to Sheriff Henry Whitehorn Sr. of the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Julian Whittington of the Bossier Sheriff’s Office for a statement about current programs and things being done with the opioid settlement funds in the parishes.
Lt. Neil Johnston with the Bossier Sheriff’s Office told The Center Square that his department purchased four patrol deputy vehicles, deputy body cameras and deputy vehicle dash cameras with the funds.
Louisiana is currently involved in 15 opioid settlements involving companies, including CVS ($69 million), Janssen ($66.4 million) and $287.8 million from three big distributors (AmerisourceBergen Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc. and McKesson Corporation). The settlements total $600 million with a maximum payout time of 18 years.
Some of the 15 companies were reported as unknown amounts, including Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Purdue and Mallinckrodt.
Louisiana’s Opioid Abatement Taskforce consists of five members— one represents the Louisiana Municipal Association, one represents the Police Jury Association, one represents the Louisiana Sheriffs Association and one for the Louisiana Department of Health. The fovernor appoints the fifth member of the taskforce.
The audit lists a few ways, but not all, that the funds were used by different parishes, including giving money to district attorneys to help with adult and juvenile drug court programs and retaining outpatient counseling for people addicted to opioids. Sheriff’s offices throughout the state have used the settlement funds to get Narcan for suspected overdoses and DARE programs in schools.