Law & Courts

The List of Districts Suing Opioid Companies Is Growing. Do They Stand a Chance?

By Mark Lieberman — July 06, 2021 2 min read
Pharmaceuticals are seen in North Andover, Mass. on June 15, 2018.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

More than 80 school districts in 16 states are suing opioid manufacturers and distributors like Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson, hoping to get the companies to help pay for the costs of educating and supporting children affected by the ongoing addiction crisis.

Lawyers have said in court filings that they believe school districts nationwide have spent at least $127 billion—and likely much more—on services to address the opioid crisis, which has risen to national prominence in the last decade.

We’ve assembled a database with every school district that is involved in a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors. Participating districts enroll close to 1.6 million students.

District leaders say they’ve seen an increase in students with disabilities brought on by their mothers’ opioid use during pregnancy, as well as an increase in students with behavioral and attendance issues who experienced family trauma as a result of relatives who were addicted to drugs or arrested for possessing them.

The class-action lawsuit, filed last December in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, includes numerous districts in Illinois, Kentucky, Maine and West Virginia, as well as a handful each in California, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, New York, and Texas, according to an updated list provided last week to Education Week by attorneys representing districts in the ongoing litigation.

If your school district is participating and isn’t among the 86 mentioned, please get in touch: mlieberman@educationweek.org.

On a separate track, hundreds of school districts have thrown their hat in the ring to get a small piece of the settlement funds from a bankruptcy case from individuals and governments against drug company Purdue Pharma. The Rochester district in New York voted last month to authorize participation in a settlement agreement, according to a report in the Democrat and Chronicle.

The extent to which schools will be compensated from those proceedings remains to be seen.

In the meantime, please take a few minutes to read this article I wrote last month about the steep challenges schools have faced trying to help students for whom the opioid crisis has touched their lives.

Some districts have had to dramatically expand mental health counseling services. Many have seen exponential increases in the number of students with disabilities, and administrators believe opioid use is among the factors contributing to the increase.

The addiction crisis does not appear likely to abate anytime soon, either. The COVID-19 pandemic appears to have coincided with a nationwide increase in substance abuse.

Related Tags:

Education Week Library Staff contributed to this article.

Events

School Climate & Safety Webinar Engaging Every Student: How to Address Absenteeism and Build Belonging
Gain valuable insights and practical solutions to address absenteeism and build a more welcoming and supportive school environment.
Student Well-Being K-12 Essentials Forum Social-Emotional Learning 2025: Examining Priorities and Practices
Join this free virtual event to learn about SEL strategies, skills, and to hear from experts on the use and expansion of SEL programs.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Inside PLCs: Proven Strategies from K-12 Leaders
Join an expert panel to explore strategies for building collaborative PLCs, overcoming common challenges, and using data effectively.
Content provided by Otus

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Law & Courts Legal Fights Highlight Clashes Over Transgender Students’ Pronouns in Schools
A federal court weighs the case of a teacher who refused to use students' chosen names and pronouns, as similar questions arise elsewhere.
9 min read
John Kluge, a former Indiana teacher, pictured in an undated photo.
John M. Kluge is an Indiana teacher who was dismissed for refusing to use transgender students' chosen names and pronouns.
Courtesy of Alliance Defending Freedom
Law & Courts Can Parents Opt Kids Out of Reading LGBTQ+ Books? The Supreme Court Will Decide
The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a school district's policy of refusing to let parents opt out their children from LGBTQ+ storybooks.
3 min read
The Supreme Court on Wednesday afternoon, April 19, 2023, in Washington.
A view of the Supreme Court in the afternoon on April 19, 2023, in Washington.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Law & Courts How Educators Feel About the Supreme Court's Decision to Uphold TikTok Ban
The Supreme Court upheld a law targeting TikTok, increasing the uncertainty for an app highly popular among U.S. educators and students.
6 min read
Sarah Baus, left, of Charleston, S.C., and Tiffany Cianci, who says she is a "long-form educational content creator," livestream to TikTok outside the Supreme Court, on Jan. 10, 2025, in Washington.
Sarah Baus, left, of Charleston, S.C., and Tiffany Cianci, who says she is a "long-form educational content creator," livestream to TikTok outside the Supreme Court, on Jan. 10, 2025, in Washington.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Law & Courts After 50 Years, This School District Is No Longer Segregated, Court Says
A federal appeals court panel declared that the Tucson, Ariz., district was now legally desegregated a half century after it was first sued.
3 min read
Scales of justice and Gavel on wooden table and Lawyer or Judge working with agreement in Courtroom, Justice and Law concept.
Pattanaphong Khuankaew/iStock