David Rosenbloom, professor of health law, policy & management, has been appointed to the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund Advisory Council to advise the state on how funds from a recent legal settlement should be used to address substance use disorder across the Commonwealth.

In February 2021, the consulting firm McKinsey & Company agreed to pay a $573 million settlement for their role in profiting from the opioid epidemic, including giving sales advice to drug makers like Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin. The agreement was made with attorneys general in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and five United States territories. Massachusetts will receive $13 million, and these funds will continue to grow as other companies either settle cases or are ordered to pay fines for their participation in causing the opioid epidemic.

These settlements are similar to the billion-dollar settlements that occurred when states sued tobacco companies years ago for liability. However, Rosenbloom says, when states received these funds in the past, the money was not used to address smoking directly and was instead used to address other state expenditures.

“The Advisory Council was created to prevent this from happening again,” says Rosenbloom. “I am delighted that at the first council meeting we were ensured that all settlement funds will be used to address addiction, prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction across Massachusetts. The funds will be added to the money the state currently spends to address these issues.”

Chaired by Marylou Sudders, Secretary of Health and Human Services for Massachusetts, the Advisory Council is made up of a diverse group of 20 policymakers, public health professionals, legal experts, and clinicians from across the Commonwealth. Dean’s Advisory Board member John Rosenthal has also been appointed to the Advisory Council.

In recent years, Massachusetts has worked to implement evidence-based practices to mitigate the harms of opioid use, including making Narcan widely available to help prevent overdose deaths.

“Massachusetts has been moving in the right direction regarding the expansion of opioid treatment and harm reduction efforts,” says Rosenbloom. “These funds provide the opportunity to create, and implement, at scale, a strategy that brings access, accountability, and equity to people with substance use disorders—not only for opioids, but stimulants and alcohol, as well.”

At the School of Public Health, Rosenbloom’s work focuses on national and state health policy and issues relating to substance use disorders. He founded and directed Join Together, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded program that worked with communities around the United States to develop and implement equitable strategies to prevent and reduce the harms caused by substance use. He was the Principal Investigator on projects that created web-based addiction treatment services, including QuitNet.com and VetChange.org. As a co-founder of the Police Assisted Addiction Recovery Initiative, he is currently working with police departments throughout the country to develop non-arrest models and community partnerships to reduce overdose deaths and help people access effective treatment.