DAYTON, Ohio — In 2020, there were more than 5,000 unintentional drug overdose deaths in Ohio, becoming the highest year yet since 2017, according to the latest data from the Ohio Department of Health.

Settlement money from a national lawsuit against opioid companies is looking to help address this problem.

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Mike DeWine became the first in the nation to sue opioid makers and drug distributors in 2017 for the role they're played in the opioid epidemic

  • DeWine won the lawsuit and received a settlement of more than $8.6 million

  • The money will go towards helping Ohio communities combat the opioid epidemic

  • Montgomery County, which had 566 overdose deaths in 2017, was one of those recipients

In 2017, Ohio became the first in the nation to sue opioid makers and drug distributors. Opioid distributors agreed to send millions of dollars to the state through a settlement.

The first payment of more than $8.6 million will go towards helping Ohio communities like Montgomery County, which saw 566 overdose deaths in 2017 according to a report from the Community Overdose Action Team. 

“Our community basically said we’re not going to point fingers at different organizations," said Montgomery Commissioner Judy Dodge. "We’re going to work together to make sure that we combat these overdose deaths."

Dodge is a part of the Community Overdose Action Team, better known as COAT. It comprises county and city leaders, law enforcement and the health department. Over the years, they have helped create recovery initiatives and even worked with rehab centers like onefifteen.

Just recently they helped launch the OD Surge Alert, a new text system that alerts subscribers about overdose surges in Montgomery County.

“They may not realize that there’s the tragedies here and we have to pay attention to what’s going on,” Dodge said. “So that’s another thing that we’ll probably look at investing.”

Montgomery county was one of dozens of counties and cities to receive money from the settlement. They recently received an initial payment of $466,000 from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation. OneOhio was created by Gov. DeWine to help communities take a regional approach to combating the opioid epidemic.

Dodge said the money will more than likely go towards helping rebab centers and other initiatives, like funding Narcan for small businesses. 

“Gas stations and drugs stores, and things like that,” Dodge said. “People come in there sometimes and they’ve overdosed. So that’s been a godsend for a lot of these small businesses.”

Montgomery County and other Ohio municipalities will continue to receive settlement payments over the next 18 years to help with prevention, treatment and support efforts. Dodge said that although overdose deaths have declined over the years, this money will help do even more to help save lives.

“It’s still a concern for our region, so we’re working very hard to combat that and putting as much money as we possibly can into organizations that help to end the overdose deaths,” she said. 

To learn more about the other counties or cities receiving money from the settlement, click here.