Virginia is expected to receive about $9 million as part of an agreement in principle with opioid producer Endo International PLC, Attorney General Jason Miyares announced Wednesday.
The company and its lenders are expected to provide up to $450 million over the next 10 years to participating states and local governments around the country.
The agreement also bans the promotion of Endo’s opioids and requires the company to turn over documents related to its role in the opioid crisis for publication in an online archive. This week, Endo also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
More than twice as many people died in Richmond through the first quarter of 2022 than in any other Virginia locality.
“Virginia has seen the brutal impact of the opioid epidemic in every corner of the Commonwealth,” Miyares said in a statement. “This nationwide agreement will allow for broad investment and remediation efforts for devastated communities.”
The agreement comes after allegations that Endo boosted opioid sales using deceptive marketing that downplayed addiction risks. Endo is an Ireland-based drug company with U.S. headquarters in Malvern, Pa.
It produces Percocet and Endocet along with Opana ER — which was withdrawn from the market in 2017. The states participating in the agreement with Endo allege that the company falsely promoted an abuse-deterrent formulation of Opana ER, which ultimately led to outbreaks of Hepatitis and HIV due to its widespread use through injections.
“Although no price can be placed on the thousands of lives lost, this settlement represents a major step towards ensuring that victims receive the treatment and care they need,” Miyares said.
According to spokesperson Victoria LaCivita, the projected $9 million will go toward localities that participated in the settlement and the state’s Opioid Abatement Authority. The authority did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
According to quarter one data from the Virginia Department of Health, 46 localities in Virginia are on track to have more opioid-related deaths than last year. Richmond is on pace for 300 opioid deaths, and Henrico County could see its second year in a row with more than 100 deaths. Roanoke also projects more than 100 deaths.
The opioid crisis can largely be traced to Appalachian areas of states, including Virginia, where a fellow opioid-producing company, Purdue Pharma, marketed OxyContin in the 1990s — leading to widespread opioid addiction — and reached a $6 billion settlement with several states earlier this year. Author Beth Macy chronicled the roots of opioid issues in “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America.” The New York Times-bestselling book was recently adapted into a series on Hulu.
In the Endo settlement, Virginia is joined by several other states taking aim at the pharmaceutical company’s role in worsening addictions. Negotiations are being led by Virginia along with Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Vermont.
The settlement is also joined by attorneys general from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In October 1980, Ronald Reagan, at the time the Republican nominee for president, hoisted Brady Spindel, 8, of Portsmouth, during a rally at the Norfolk Scope coliseum. More than 4,000 Reagan supporters attended.
In February 1969, Medical College of Virginia nursing students Marsha Penney (left) and Martha Mooney checked equipment. They had joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in June 1968, and the Army was covering their tuition, room and board at MCV in Richmond. After graduation, they would begin transitioning from civilian to military life with five weeks of basic training in Texas.
In September 1959, stable hand Garfield Tillman walked award-winning racehorse First Landing through Meadow Stable, the Caroline County operation of horse owner Christopher T. Chenery. First Landing, the U.S. champion 2-year-old colt in 1958, had been convalescing after an illness.
In April 1948, James Phillips Schultz supervised a mumbletypeg game played by two youths at the Richmond Home for Boys. Schultz, 81, was the oldest alumnus of the home. To celebrate the institution’s 102nd birthday, alumni, families and children gathered for an afternoon program that included music , games and dancing for the youths.
In March 1969, St. Mary’s Hospital nurses used the Teachmobile, a cart that moved among floors and allowed workers to learn without relying on large group gatherings. Jeanne W. Orr (left), director of the hospital’s continuing education program, designed the cart with display boards and a tape-recorded lecture. With her is Mary Anne Cook. The Teachmobile was constructed from a flower cart by the hospital’s carpenter.
In August 1954, members of the Richmond Civic Ballet rehearsed for an upcoming performance. The open-membership volunteer group, which presented roughly a dozen performances annually at local events, was organized almost four years earlier by local former professional dancers Betty Carper Grigg and John Hurdle.
In January 1964, traffic on East Broad Street in Richmond moved slowly after the city received more than 4 inches of snow.
In April 1977, workmen removed the fountain from its foundation in Monroe Park in Richmond. A replacement, cast from a mold of the old one, was to be made by an iron company in Alabama and installed during the summer.
In May 1978, owner Jim Thayer stood outside Borkey’s store on Atlee Road in Hanover County. He planned to highlight the store’s more than 100-year history by ordering products that were sold there in the early days.
In April 1978, students from Huguenot High School in Richmond worked with director Dave Anderson on a public television series called “As We See It.” Financed by a federal grant, the series shed light on school desegregation across America, with students contributing scripts for scenes. The Huguenot segment was titled “The Riot that Never Was” and included a re-enactment of a tense moment in the cafeteria during the previous school year, which ultimately was resolved.
In January 1956, the Boys Club of Richmond expanded by purchasing the house next door to its North Robinson Street location. Options for the new space included more offices, a library, kitchen, meeting quarters and a basement rifle range. The price of the new building was $10,000.
In November 1978, African-American women gathered for a beauty clinic at the Thalhimers at Eastgate Mall in Richmond. The clinic, sponsored by Fashion Fair, brought in beauty professionals, including Pearl Hester (standing at right), to demonstrate makeup techniques.
This May 1965 image shows a section of East Broad Street in downtown Richmond after an evening storm.
In September 1941, amid a nationwide gas shortage, Harry J. Donati (left) and Joseph G. Robben drove their horse-drawn carriage down 25th Street in Church Hill in Richmond.
In November 1980, a 1922 firetruck with extension hose was on display at Engine Co. 20 on Forest Hill Avenue in South Richmond. The vehicle, which was in service until 1958, deteriorated for years until local residents and businesses volunteered to restore it.
In October 1987, Lee Lockwood, 5, rode on the back of a pony village cart driven by Laura Crews (right) and his aunt, Grace Battisto, at Maymont in Richmond. They were attending the park’s Victorian Day, a lawn party highlighting turn-of-the-century life.
In September 1961, the Bellevue Theater marquee on MacArthur Avenue in North Side still read “Closed for the Winter.” Neighborhood Theatre Inc. said there were no plans to reopen the theater, closed since 1960. It became home to the New Dominion Barn Dance, a country music radio show.
This June 1964 image shows Buchanan School in Richmond’s East End a day before its scheduled demolition. The school opened in 1912. In 1964, the property was purchased by the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority as part of the 17th Street Redevelopment Project. The almost 600 students were transferred to the new Mosby School .
In December 1986, Irene Dameron stood behind the counter of her Westmoreland County shop with regulars (from left) Bob Prather, Ben Allen and Bob Sanford. Dameron had run the shop for 28 years — she had taken over the business from her father, who ran it for 33 years before that. Though the store’s inventory had been reduced, her loyal customers came in almost every day to pass time, action Dameron encouraged by having benches and chairs in the shop.
In June 1951, square dance caller Richard Chase taught playground directors some steps in preparation for a dance scheduled for the Byrd Park tennis courts in Richmond as part of Park and Recreation Week. The program was organized by the city and sponsored by Thalhimers.
In December 1947, Charles C. Slayton (left), president of the Society of American Magicians, was the target of a card trick when Dan Friedman pulled an oversized deck of cards from Slayton’s vest pocket during an event at The Jefferson Hotel .
On Valentine’s Day 1989, a 50-foot-wide heart hung from the columns of the state Capitol’s south portico in Richmond. The oversized valentine was created to mark the 20th anniversary of the “Virginia is for Lovers” advertising campaign.
This May 1947 image shows a street scene on Main Street near Ninth Street in downtown Richmond. At the time, cars shared the road with electric streetcars. Two years later, with the increase in buses and automobiles, the streetcar system was replaced.
In July 1940, a Richmond Colts batter headed to first base while a teammate scored in a victory over the Norfolk Tars in a Piedmont League game at Tate Field, which was on Mayo Island in Richmond.
In September 1972, Rudy Peele (left) and Al Sanders shared a laugh at the Virginia Squires rookie tryout camp in Richmond. About 16 players were expected at the camp, including four who were invited after doing well at an open tryout in Norfolk the previous week. That tryout attracted 81 players who hoped to join the American Basketball Association team.
In March 1964, Native American children left the two-room state-funded school on the Mattaponi Reservation in King William County. An accompanying article reviewed population trends among Virginia’s Indian tribes; there were 22 Mattaponi and Pamunkey children attending the school at the time.
In August 1947, patrons of a Richmond laundromat played bridge while their clothing was in the machines. The new coin-operated laundry facilities saved time, as a half-day chore without machines at home was reduced to a 30-minute cycle. The laundromat also became a social gathering place.
In June 1943, a sign posted in the elevators of the Atlantic Life Insurance Co. in downtown Richmond challenged tradition by asking men to keep their hats on to speed elevator service and allow for more room.
Staff writer Sean McGoey contributed to this report.
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More overdoses may be happening because more pills and drugs are laced with dangerous amounts of fentanyl.
More than twice as many people died in Richmond through the first quarter of 2022 than in any other Virginia locality.
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