Ed Mahon reported this story while participating in the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2024 Data Fellowship.
HARRISBURG — A first-of-its-kind database from Spotlight PA will make it easier for the public to track how Pennsylvania counties decided to spend tens of millions of dollars from their first rounds of opioid settlement payments — and whether a powerful state oversight board ultimately approved those decisions.
Pennsylvania expects to receive a large amount of money from these settlements, including up to about $1.8 billion from two waves of agreements with multiple companies, according to a recent court order. Drug distributors, retailers, and manufacturers entered into the agreements to settle claims over their role in the opioid epidemic, which continues to kill thousands of Pennsylvanians each year.
Most of the funds are going to the state’s 67 counties, and the early choices those county officials make could set a precedent for years to come. Some decisions involving law enforcement, harm reduction programs, and support for residents in a hard hit Philadelphia neighborhood have already sparked sharp debate in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust distributes the funds and reviews spending. Its 13-member board has the power to cut funding from counties if it decides they spent money in ways that don’t align with the requirements of the agreements.
Two recipients, Somerset County and Philadelphia, recently filed appeals in Commonwealth Court to challenge the trust’s rejection of their spending decisions. Those cases were pending as of Nov. 8.
This searchable database is based on spending records released by the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust, as well as a review of meeting minutes and recordings, and court documents. Counties had to file their first comprehensive spending reports with the trust by March 15 of this year, and they were required to describe decisions they made in 2022 and 2023.
The full board voted in May, June, and August on whether to approve or reject the programs. A committee of the trust later reversed a few of the rejections, including some involving Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood.
Spotlight PA’s database covers roughly $70 million worth of spending decisions involving about 450 programs or responses. The figures include both funds that were reported as spent and planned spending.
This database builds on previous reporting by Spotlight PA to give the public a better understanding of these crucial spending decisions, which are frequently made with little public input or involvement.
A Spotlight PA and WESA story last year broke down which Pennsylvania counties received the most opioid settlement money per resident for 2022, revealing wide disparities driven by the role counties played in opioid litigation, a formula that attempted to account for how hard the opioid epidemic hit different communities, and other factors. The story also featured a searchable database of payments and estimates for county governments and other local agencies.
In March, Spotlight PA partnered with WESA to request dozens of spending reports filed by counties across the state. The news organization published those reports as they received them so that advocates, researchers, other journalists, and members of the public could understand the decisions and weigh in — before the opioid trust voted on them.
Many advocates, medical professionals, and victims of the opioid epidemic have big hopes for this money. But across the country, the public — including people who have lost loved ones to the opioid crisis or are dealing with it daily — are routinely shut out of having a meaningful say in the process, a first-of-its-kind survey conducted by Spotlight PA and KFF Health News found earlier this year.
This database can help anyone follow where the money’s going, a crucial first step to judging whether it’s being used effectively.
Tips for using the database
You can search and sort by several criteria, including keywords, the county, how much was spent or committed, and whether the program was ultimately approved.
For instance:
Searching for “York” will show 12 programs for that county. The trust approved all of them. You can click on “Details” for more information about the individual programs.
A search for “Lawrence” will bring up eight programs. Five of them were ultimately approved by the opioid trust, while the trust rejected three others.
You can also search for keywords. For instance, searching for “syringe” will provide two results. One is for $325,000 that Allegheny County dedicated to a syringe services program. The other is for a Bucks County program. If you click on “Details” for the Bucks County program, you can view more information, including this description in the Program Notes column: “Ensure residents are aware of available resources, are educated on drug trends (such as Fentanyl), medication/syringe returns, diversionary programs, treatment availability.” (For some county programs, the trust’s public documents do not include additional details in the Program Notes section.)
