Flint, MI – Flint City Council voted to allocate $400,000 from the state-allotted Opioid Settlement Funds to the Office of Public Health, with the ability for this funding to roll over into later fiscal years. The funding will be used for staffing to support ongoing public health programming and assistance, said Flint City Councilwoman Tonya Burns in an Aug. 20 interview with Flint Beat. According to the city’s website, the Office of Public Health helps connect residents to community resources such as lead service line replacement, water filtration and testing, and payment assistance programs like GCCARD. The State of Michigan has been set to receive almost $800 million over the next 18 years in settlement money from various opioid manufacturers and pharmacies from a nationwide lawsuit. Eighty-five percent of these funds must be spent on opioid remediation with 70 percent for future opioid remediation. Fifty percent will be distributed to local governments like Flint while the remaining 50 percent will be put into the Michigan Opioid Healing and Recovery Fund.“I think that the opioid settlement dollars are specifically used for what’s called Exhibit E, and if it’s being used outside of anything that is an Exhibit E, then it’s a misuse of funds,” said Tara Mareno, founder and executive director of Serenity House. Exhibit E refers to a list of allowable uses for spending the settlement money.Mareno said Serenity House received $50,000 in settlement money. The organization provides holistic options for people recovering from substance use disorder, codependency and trauma.The list includes FDA-approved drugs to reverse overdoses like Naxolone, and a variety of treatments and prevention programs.“Unfortunately, the Office of Public Health is a wide umbrella, and it’s not just working with opioid settlement dollars or opioid issues. I know that the city has already been under scrutiny for spending money on ambulances, and ambulances aren’t part of Exhibit E,” Mareno said.Flint City Council voted unanimously March 2024 to appropriate $225,000 of the city’s opioid settlement funds to purchase an ambulance vehicle and supplies for the Flint Fire Department. While a certain percentage of the funds can be used elsewhere, there have been talks about municipalities possibly having to pay money back if it is missed used, Mareno said.In 2019, Flint received $1.7 million in settlement money as a result of lawsuits filed against three of the largest pharmaceutical distributors – McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen – as well as Janssen Pharmaceuticals and its parent company, Johnson & Johnson.Flint City Council approved settlements in 2021. In 2022, agreements were announced with other pharmacy chains like Allergan, Teva, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart and most recently, council members voted to accept the 2022 settlement funds during a March 27, 2023 meeting.Flint City Council allocates $400k from opioid funds is a post from Flint Beat, a hyperlocal news outlet covering Flint, Mich.First published by Flint Beat.