Bill would ban state Narcan deals with opioid manufacturers that settled with Montana

You shouldn't pay an arsonist to put out the fire they started, thought Sen. Mike Yakawich, a Billings Republican. Opioid makers who have settled with states for their role in the igniting an addiction crisis shouldn't get paid by states if they later develop and sell overdose reversal drugs, went Yakawich's thinking.

And yet, according to former state attorneys general who weighed in last week, some of those same opioid makers are selling overdose reversal drugs to states to pay for the settlements with those states caused by their own products. That's how Senate Bill 112 came to the Montana Legislature, where Yakawich's bill is cruising on broad, bipartisan support. Sen.



Mike Yakawich, in this January 2024 file photo, addresses the meeting of the Behavioral Health Commission in the chapel at the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch. "All I'm asking is that our state not buy from those who caused the opioid crisis," he told the Senate floor. The Montana Department of Justice, the Department of Public Health and Human Services and the Department of Administration have all confirmed to Yakawich the bill would not disrupt any current contracts for reversal drugs like Narcan that are already coming into the state.

"There are plenty of organizations we can buy the drug from," Yakawich added. A package of Narcan in a vending machine at the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse. Brent Mead, the solicitor general with the Montana Department of Justice, confirmed to the Senate committee that the state currently does not purchase any Narcan or Naloxone from pharmaceutical companies with which Montana entered into a settlement.

Last week the state justice department announced Montana is expected to see $16 million from a settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family. Montana was one of a coalition of states that sued the Sacklers and their company, which produced and sold Oxycontin and ultimately agreed last week to a $7.4 billion settlement.

Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, warned the Senate of unforeseen consequences of SB 112, particularly if opioid reversal drugs run low from other companies. Sen.

Carl Glimm, R-Kila, pushed back on the notion that there would be any scarcity of Narcan anytime soon. Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, speak on the Senate floor on Jan.

27 in the state Capitol. "Lots of people are making them," Glimm said of the reversal drug, also known as opioid antagonists. "We're just going to buy them from someone who didn't just make a whole bunch of money getting people addicted and causing this horrible problem.

" Yakawich's bill passed out of committee last week on an 11-0 vote. Three former attorneys general, including Tim Fox of Montana, Tom Miller of Iowa and Mike Hunter of Oklahoma, submitted a letter urging the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee to advance the proposal. "It has come to our attention that many states are currently buying opioid overdose medications (Naloxone) from the very same parties to the settlements that we as AGs worked to secure," the letter states.

In many cases, the profit the parties to these settlements are making off Naloxone is helping to offset the payments they are making in state settlements." The Senate passed the bill on Tuesday with a 49-1 vote. The only vote cast against the measure came from Sen.

Jeremy Trebas, R-Great Falls, who told the Montana State News Bureau he didn't want to close the door on Purdue Pharma if the company changed hands to new owners. The bill now moves to the House for another round of hearings. Seaborn Larson has worked for the Montana State News Bureau since 2020.

His past work includes local crime and courts reporting at the Missoulian and Great Falls Tribune, and daily news reporting at the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. State Bureau Reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

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