Idaho cities, counties sign onto national opioid settlements

By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Each of Idaho’s 44 counties and all 24 eligible cities will participate in national opioid settlements, potentially bringing $119 million to the state. Republican Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said Monday that the counties and cities agreed to sign onto the $26 billion settlements involving the three biggest U.S. drug distribution companies and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson. The money would address damage wrought by opioids, which the federal government in 2017 declared a public health emergency. Idaho officials say opioid overdose deaths have been trending upward in the last several decades, increasing from just over 20 deaths a year in 2000 to 123 in 2016 and 116 in 2017.