‘Overwhelming hopelessness’: city says opioids crisis settlement won’t fix things

Akron officials say no amount of money will restore families and institutions upended by prescription painkillers like OxyContin

The tentative settlement involving the US opioids crisis and the maker of the narcotic prescription painkiller OxyContin could mean that thousands of local governments will one day be paid back for some of the costs of responding to the epidemic.

But for public officials in Akron, Ohio, no amount of money will restore the families and institutions that were upended by prescription painkillers, heroin and fentanyl.