Skip to content

Winchester to get nearly $1M in opioid settlement funds

photo by Moonshine4711

Table of Contents

 According to Health Director Jennifer Murphy, Winchester will receive close to a million dollars as part of the state’s opioid settlement money.  Murphy told the News via email:

 Over the next 15 years the town will receive allotments of the opioid settlement. The settlement is paid from distributors, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), as well as several major pharmacies. The money is paid out in annual allotments; however, some allotments have been condensed as noted you can see below.

To Winchester:

-          Distributors and J&J will pay out $550,384 over 15 years and

-          Another settlement from two manufacturers and three major pharmacies will pay out in total $432,925 over the next several years (up to 10).

 So far, the town has received:

-          FY23 $113,643.26 (only $38k was appropriated by town meeting, so not all was available to spend. The remainder $75, will be appropriated at this fall Town Meeting.)

o   It’s important to note that the $113 are payouts from Janssen years 1-5 and from distributors years 1 and 2.

-          FY24 received to date $19,726.75. (This will also be appropriated at Fall Town Meeting and available to spend after).

-          After Fall TM, the town will have received and appropriated approx. $133k.

-          To date the town has spent $8k on:

o   3 community mental health first aid trainings and supplies: this is an evidenced -based curriculum that imparts information to community members on how to be aware of and triage those who are struggling. More trainings planned.

o   Narcan kit supplies: the Health Department has created kits with Naloxone, fentanyl test strips, CPR face shield, gloves as well as, substance use disorder and mental health resources. We have distributed kits at the Farmer’s Market on community day as well as provided several to our town mental health workers.

o   The Health Department is working with town partners: police, fire, mental health worker, social worker at Jenks, school staff, etc. people with lived experience and regional partners on strategies for harm reduction and prevention of substance use disorder and related issues such as mental health concerns.

Please go to the Attorney General's opioid site for more info on the settlement.

Latest

Winchester Health Dept. offering RSV vaccines

Winchester Health Dept. offering RSV vaccines

The following was submitted by the Winchester Health Department: The Winchester Health Department is now offering the RSV vaccine by appointment. RSV vaccine is recommended for the prevention of lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV — a highly contagious virus that can make it hard to breathe. Recommended for: • Ages

Jenks forum discusses autonomous vehicles, computer hacking

Jenks forum discusses autonomous vehicles, computer hacking

By John Brown, Ron Latanision, and Walter Hubbard On Nov. 8, Peter Ciriscioli spoke with seniors at the Jenks over Zoom about Autonomous Vehicle Policy Issues.  Public road Autonomous Vehicle (AV) testing poses safety problems. Autonomous Vehicle developers have reported “miles driven” by their cars, but the number of injuries

  Subscribe