Triangle families react to Supreme Court's rejection of opioid settlement

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Families in the Triangle are reacting after the Supreme Court's rejection of a controversial settlement that would have sent billions of dollars to treatment programs and victims of the nation's opioid epidemic.

While the court's decision could be seen as a setback for some families whose loved ones have been affected by the opioid drug crisis, one woman is still hopeful that the work that's being done to combat the opioid epidemic will not go in vain.

It's been eight years since Wake County mother Freida MacDonald lost her son to a fentanyl overdose, but in those years she's been busy putting faces and names on highway billboards to raise awareness on the ongoing crisis.

"The awareness is much greater than what it was in 2016," she said. "When we lose someone it's actually in the obituary that they struggled with a substance use disorder. That is a very significant change that I've seen through the years. Also, just the funding behind it."

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The Purdue Pharma's Opioid Settlement would have awarded $6 billion to state and local governments to fight opioid addiction and payouts to more than 100,000 victims of opioid overdoses while also extending immunity to Purdue's owners, the Sackler family.

"My initial gut reaction to the decision was, well, perhaps there'll be more accountability as far as the Sacklers and Purdue," MacDonald said. "Perhaps there will be. Then I go right behind that and I say, OK, a delay on funding."

While some families want Purdue to pay, MacDonald believes lives can still be saved, standing by her motto "Know hope."

"This is a new opportunity for them to come back and potentially even ask for more funding. And so it could actually have a long-term positive effect," she said.

Macdonald said there is still a lot of work to do, including better resources for those who are recovering post-rehab.

Over the next 18 years, Wake County is expected to receive more than $65 million in opioid settlement money and $1.5 billion in North Carolina. However, Thursday's decision puts the funds in jeopardy.