Staggs selected to attend regional meetings on opioid settlement

Jun. 29—KEYSER, W.. Va. — The Mineral County Board of Commissioners has selected Commissioner Charles "Dutch" Staggs to attend a regional meeting on the future disposition of funds awarded to the state of West Virginia in opioid litigation.

The board voted unanimously to select Staggs to represent the county as the West Virginia First Foundation prepares to meet July 12. The West Virginia First Foundation, tasked with distributing the opioid lawsuit-settlement money, was recognized by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Jim Justice in March.

Mineral County is expecting to receive a portion of the more than $1 billion settlement reached from lawsuits against multiple pharmaceutical corporations in recent years.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Monday that settlement funding for opioid treatment and addiction services can soon begin going out to communities after years of litigation, The Associated Press reported.

The vote to send Staggs to the regional meeting took place Tuesday during the commission's regular meeting in Keyser.

"A total of 72.5% of the net total of the fund will go into a statewide foundation that will develop and oversee the funding for short-term and long-term projects to address the opioid crisis," said Commissioner Jerry Whisner. "Three percent of net funds will go to the office of the attorney general counsel for the state since he is the one who fought for the settlement. A total of 24.5% will go to the local government agencies, which is defined as West Virginia counties, cities and towns and villages."

The attorney general and counsel for West Virginia cities and counties adopted guidelines on how the funds may be used. Settlement funds must be put to use to abate the opioid epidemic.

Counties and municipalities across West Virginia are currently finalizing representatives for the forming foundation board.

Eileen Sindledecker, Mineral County assistant administrator, said one of the first priorities of the foundation will be to select a director for each of the foundation's six regions.

"We are Region 2," said Sindledecker. "What they would really like is someone who is qualified to directly give specific information to the topic."

She said a background in areas such as health care, addictions and law enforcement would be ideal.

Sindledecker said the Region 2 meeting on July 12 will take place in Berkeley County.

"At that meeting they are going to vote for the director," said Sindledecker. "We do need someone to go and represent our county. The person that goes needs to have the approval to vote for Mineral County."

Commissioner Charles Staggs volunteered to attend the meeting.

"There is several steps to it," said Staggs. "The whole goal is to set up a board to work with the settlement."

Directors approved for the six regions will join five members appointed by Gov. Jim Justice to form an 11-member board.

Over the past four years, drug manufacturers, distribution companies, pharmacies and other companies with roles in the opioid business have reached settlements.

It was announced in August that West Virginia and the nation's "Big Three" opioid distributors — AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson — had reached a landmark $400 million settlement in the case. Other corporations reaching settlements include Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Walmart and Kroger.

The opioid epidemic began in the 1990s, according to the Marshall Digital Scholar, with an increased prescribing of opioids across the nation. Between 2013 and 2014, opioid overdose death rates began to increase in West Virginia. By the year 2015, West Virginia held the highest number of opioid overdose death rates in the country. In 2021, fatal overdoses claimed more than 1,417 lives in the state.

Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @GregLarryCTN.