Title
Authorizing the creation of the Philadelphia Opioid Response Task Force.
Body
WHEREAS, Millions of Americans suffer from opioid addiction, and more than 1,500 people die every week from opioid-related overdoses; and
WHEREAS, More than a million people in the United States have died of drug overdoses since 2000, the majority of which were due to opioids; and
WHEREAS, Since 2015, the opioid mortality rate has contributed to a historic decline in life expectancy in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania's overdose death rate is among the highest in the country; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia's overdose death rate leads all large cities in the United States and is more than twice that of the second most severely affected city; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia has experienced nearly 6,000 fatal drug overdoses in the past five years, over 85 percent of which involved opioids; and
WHEREAS, Thousands of individuals experience non-fatal overdoses or other negative consequences of opioid use and addiction every year; and
WHEREAS, It is widely recognized that the over-prescribing of opioid painkillers played a major role in triggering the epidemic of opioid addiction, overdoses and deaths currently ravaging the country, the Commonwealth, and the City; and
WHEREAS, The Commonwealth was among several jurisdictions to bring nationwide litigation against the three largest pharmaceutical distributors, McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, pharmaceutical manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and its parent company Johnson & Johnson, for their improper roles in the distribution, manufacture, sale and promotion of prescription opioid products; and
WHEREAS, Under settlement agreements reached to resolve this litigation, Philadelphia is expected to receive more than $160 million of the $1.07 billion allocated to Pennsylvania ("Philadelphia Opioid Litigation Funds"); and
WHEREAS, These Philadelphia Opioid Litigation Funds must be used to support and e...
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