Background
IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA County of Northampton, : Petitioner : : No. 1081 C.D. 2025 v. : : Argued: May 12, 2026 Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania : Opioid Misuse and Addiction : Abatement Trust, : Respondent : BEFORE: HONORABLE LORI A. DUMAS, Judge HONORABLE STACY WALLACE, Judge HONORABLE BONNIE BRIGANCE LEADBETTER, Senior Judge OPINION NOT REPORTED MEMORANDUM OPINION BY JUDGE DUMAS FILED: July 23, 2026 The County of Northampton (County) has filed a petition for specialized review, asserting that the Board of Trustees (Board) of the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust (Trust) should have approved the County’s expenditure of Trust funds for its fentanyl-awareness media campaign. Having reviewed the record submitted to this Court and upon consideration of the County’s arguments and the Board’s responses thereto, we conclude that the Board’s decision is deficient in that it lacks several characteristics of a reasoned decision suitable for appellate review. Therefore, we remand to the Board with instructions that it issue an appropriate decision within 30 days.
Trust In 2022, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania sued various pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids. The parties settled for approximately $1 billion. Pursuant to the terms of a consent judgment entered and approved by this Court, the Commonwealth created the Trust to receive, allocate, and disburse the settlement funds. The Trust may approve the distribution of funds “only for the purposes set forth in Exhibit E to the Settlements.” Am. Order, 10/15/24, § V(B).2 Exhibit E is a 15-page list of approved programs and strategies addressing opioid addiction, divided into two schedules. The first schedule highlights and gives priority to core abatement strategies. For example, among those core abatement strategies, Exhibit E contemplates funding for media campaigns to prevent opioid use. A, § G(1).3 The second schedule provides a non-exhaustive list of treatment and prevention efforts, as well as outlining other strategies to abate the opioid epidemic. Each year, the Trust disburses funds to counties and other participating subdivisions, which are required to expend those funds timely and in compliance with Exhibit E. Each county is required to submit an annual report detailing the expenditures of such funds to the Trust.4 Id. § 1 We glean the facts from the record. 2 For convenience, we refer to the amended order that created the trust. 3 Subsection G(1) approves: Funding for media campaigns to prevent opioid use (similar to the FDA’s “Real Cost” campaign to prevent youth from misusing tobacco) . . . .
The Court’s Holding
CONCLUSION For these reasons, we require the Board to thoroughly memorialize its reasoning before we can address our standard and scope of review and evaluate the Board’s review of the County’s expenditure of Trust funds. Accordingly, we remand to have the Board file a decision within 30 days, as set forth herein. DUMAS, Judge Judge Covey did not participate in this decision. 7 IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA County of Northampton, : Petitioner : : No. 1081 C.D. 2025 v. : : Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania : Opioid Misuse and Addiction : Abatement Trust, : Respondent : ORDER AND NOW, this 23rd day of July, 2026, we REMAND to have the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust (Board) file a decision explaining its reasoning within 30 days. The Board’s decision must identify the Exhibit E Section(s) at issue and explain why the disputed programs do not qualify. The Board’s decision must include specific findings of fact and reflect its credibility determinations. To the extent the Board relies on undefined terms or apparent terms of art, e.g., “evidence-based” or “evidence- informed,” to justify its decision, the Board must define those terms. We ORDER the Prothonotary to serve a copy of this opinion and order on the Attorney General.
The decision applies Pennsylvania law to the issues preserved in this appeal and explains the governing standard in the court’s own terms. The disposition controls the parties’ next steps and supplies guidance for litigants confronting the same procedural or substantive question.
Key Takeaways
- CONCLUSION For these reasons, we require the Board to thoroughly memorialize its reasoning before we can address our standard and scope of review and evaluate the Board’s review of the County’s expenditure of Trust funds.
- Accordingly, we remand to have the Board file a decision within 30 days, as set forth herein.
- DUMAS, Judge Judge Covey did not participate in this decision. 7 IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA County of Northampton, : Petitioner : : No. 1081 C.D. 2025 v. : : Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania : Opioid Misuse and Addiction : Abatement Trust, : Respondent : ORDER AND NOW, this 23rd day of July, 2026, we REMAND to have the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust (Board) file a decision explaining its reasoning within 30 days.
Why It Matters
Commonwealth Court orders a reasoned decision on disputed opioid-settlement spending Pennsylvania practitioners should read the ruling with particular attention to the court’s treatment of preservation, the applicable standard, and the remedy. Those points will shape how comparable claims are framed in trial courts and reviewed on appeal.