ITHACA, NY (WSKG) — Last year, New York joined a legal settlement with three distributors of prescription opioid pills: McKesson, Cardinal Health Inc. and Amerisource Bergen Drug Corporation. This week, New York counties received the first installment of the settlement money.
New York's share of the settlement is $1.1 billion, which will be paid out in installments over the next 18 years.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said the money must be used to treat and prevent opioid addiction and overdose deaths.
"What I hear, as I traveled all throughout the state of New York, what I heard over and over again, was a need for more treatment beds, particularly in upstate New York," James said.
James also underscored the need for overdose reversing drugs, like Naloxone.
Within the Southern Tier, Chemung and Broome Counties have been hit particularly hard by the opioid crisis. The rate of opioid-related deaths and hospitalizations in those counties is significantly higher than the state average. They will receive a slightly larger share of the settlement money.
The Southern Tier region will receive about $4.8 million from the settlement in 2022. The initial payout on Tuesday totaled about $759,000 between Broome, Tioga, Schuyler, Stueben, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, and Tompkins counties.
Some advocates have criticized the settlement, claiming the money won't be enough to build up New York’s ailing mental health and addiction treatment programs.
James said there is more money coming soon. New York is set to receive settlement funds from five other opioid distributors and manufacturers, including Johnson & Johnson and Purdue Pharmaceuticals.
WSKG has compiled New York's county-by-county allocations of the McKesson-Cardinal-Amerisource Bergen settlement fund. You can read more about the formula used to allocate funds in this report from the Attorney General's office.
| County/City | Initial 4/19 Payment¹ | Total 2022 Payments² |
| Albany | $259,805.47 | $1,664,997.56 |
| Allegany | $45,853.21 | $293,856.32 |
| Broome | $259,740.19 | $1,664,579.24 |
| Cattaraugus | $82,445.66 | $528,363.86 |
| Chemung | $114,662.01 | $734,826.56 |
| Chautauqua | $159,412.61 | $1,021,616.72 |
| Tompkins | $109,603.14 | $702,406.13 |
| Steuben | $105,838.47 | $678,279.74 |
| Clinton | $77,392.57 | $495,980.48 |
| Columbia | $61,130.35 | $391,761.88 |
| Cayuga | $84,094.89 | $538,933.17 |
| Otsego | $62,449.37 | $400,215.03 |
| Dutchess | $407,768.51 | $2,613,238.18 |
| Erie | $1,301,350.18 | $8,339,873.94 |
| Essex | $34,185.59 | $219,082.82 |
| Franklin | $42,567.85 | $272,801.64 |
| Fulton | $43,006.92 | $275,615.48 |
| Genesee | $66,141.44 | $423,876.15 |
| Greene | $73,832.88 | $473,167.76 |
| Hamilton | $2,817.33 | $18,055.22 |
| Herkimer | $61,271.61 | $392,667.15 |
| Jefferson | $118,547.59 | $759,727.84 |
| Lewis | $23,373.22 | $149,790.39 |
| Livingston | $63,178.61 | $404,888.41 |
| Madison | $75,445.62 | $483,503.21 |
| Monroe | $873,450.13 | $5,597,620.17 |
| Montgomery | $42,199.54 | $270,441.30 |
| Nassau | $2,854,020.35 | $20,461,138.70 |
| New York City | $11,544,971.12 | #N/A |
| Niagara | $318,023.66 | $2,038,096.49 |
| Oneida | $263,096.39 | $1,686,087.87 |
| Onondaga | $588,579.82 | $3,771,991.30 |
| Ontario | $121,922.27 | $781,354.93 |
| Orange | $482,844.27 | $3,094,371.05 |
| Orleans | $38,426.36 | $246,260.40 |
| Oswego | $144,218.27 | $924,241.77 |
| Delaware | $51,131.73 | $327,684.41 |
| Putnam | $110,282.58 | $706,760.44 |
| Rensselaer | $118,272.85 | $757,967.10 |
| Rockland | $286,838.14 | $1,838,240.01 |
| Saratoga | $156,301.37 | $1,001,677.89 |
| Schenectady | $113,308.53 | $726,152.60 |
| Schoharie | $25,853.25 | $165,683.93 |
| Tioga | $50,478.68 | $323,499.27 |
| Cortland | $50,356.61 | $322,716.94 |
| St. Lawrence | $114,878.17 | $736,211.87 |
| Chenango | $48,070.61 | $308,066.82 |
| Suffolk | $3,687,155.04 | $26,439,554.51 |
| Sullivan | $175,782.72 | $1,126,526.67 |
| Seneca | $36,005.54 | $230,746.26 |
| Schuyler | $19,382.62 | $124,216.06 |
| Ulster | $229,241.79 | $1,469,126.19 |
| Warren | $56,976.67 | $365,142.46 |
| Washington | $44,666.72 | $286,252.54 |
| Wayne | $92,524.22 | $592,953.67 |
| Westchester | $857,018.88 | $5,492,318.34 |
| Wyoming | $38,314.72 | $245,544.96 |
| Yates | $23,074.00 | $147,872.76 |
| City of Albany | $23,474.67 | $116,277.56 |
| City of Buffalo | $117,583.25 | $582,427.39 |
| City of Rochester | $78,920.42 | $390,918.06 |
| City of Syracuse | $53,181.02 | $263,422.57 |
| City of Yonkers | $77,435.78 | $383,564.15 |
¹ https://ag.ny.gov/initial-payments
² Data provided to WSKG by New York Attorney General Office spokesperson.