Investigation Led By: R.J. Cutter & Brianna Cherise

Last Updated: Feb. 24, 2026 Updated 2:36 p.m. ET

Brixadi and Opioid Settlement Fraud Directed by Jacob Frey

Why is Minneapolis using public money to directly purchase a brand-new specialty opioid-treatment drug from Cardinal Health — one of the three distributors in the national opioid settlement — and then treating that as self-justifying because the drug itself is called “evidence-based”? The national distributor settlement itself specifically names Cardinal Health as one of the three settling distributors, and Brixadi was only FDA-approved on May 23, 2023.

That matters because “evidence-based” does not answer the procurement question. Brixadi is a Schedule III extended-release buprenorphine injection that is available only through a restricted REMS and is intended to be administered only by a healthcare provider. The evidence relates to the medication, not automatically to a City-built purchasing, shipping, storage, and logistics model. And your Minneapolis records show exactly that kind of City-built model: a $350,000 Elliott Park earmark, a strategy document placing Brixadi inside current/emerging priorities, and a direct $144,000 City PO to Cardinal shipped to the Health Department.

Minnesota is receiving opioid-settlement money because distributors like Cardinal Health were part of the supply chain that fueled the crisis. Minneapolis then turns around and uses public funds to buy a newly approved specialty opioid-treatment drug from that same distributor ecosystem, while presenting the rollout as inherently legitimate because the drug is “evidence-based.” That is not a sufficient answer. The evidence applies to the drug, not to the City’s decision to directly purchase, receive, and plan storage for it through municipal systems.

To set the state for your understanding, you need to understand the 2nd largest DHS Billing fraud case in Minnesota state history, because it directly involved the same individual directly granted $1 million dollars by Jacob Frey in a handshake deal that the City Auditor compared to Feeding Our Future —Adam Fairbanks and his company Helix HHS. The OLA report called “Department of Human Services: Payments for Self-Administered Opioid Treatment Medication” was a SPECIAL REVIEW completed October 29, 2019,  shows that despite acting as a consultant for Red Lake nation, Fairbanks used unclear billing statements from DHS to turn around and bill for take-home MAT for reservation and urban White Earth patients. 

This means that Fairbanks was billing well over $100,000/person, per year, for medication people were taking at home by themselves. That’s like you billing Medicaid for me taking my medication every day, without proving whether or not I did it, or even knowing who I am. Despite being a consultant on Medication Assistance Therapy and MOUD, Fairbanks pleaded ignorance and refused to cooperate when it was discovered that he had billed about $62.8 million in MAT payments in FY 2018–2019. Due to Adam Fairbanks billing at the encounter rate (rate for clinical contact/in-person engagement) for take-home Medication Assisted Therapy, which patients manage and take without any assistance other than the pharmacy distributing their medication to them, DHS was exposed as ridiculously ill-equipped to handle its most basic functions. The result of the OLA special review was ultimately no result—nobody claimed responsibility and a low-level employee was blamed for everything. 

Dangerous rhetoric from paid Minneapolis Consultant Dziwe Ntada on Tik Tok video (https://www.tiktok.com/@jamalward6/video/7509966427403734302). His badge simply saying “Doctor” seems a bit odd as well, and almost looks like an infomercial for the drug. Here are the incredibly dangerous and wildly unproven and inaccurate statement made by Dziwe Ntada on the TikTok video, lying to Councilmember Osman. Again, keep in mind, Dziwe is a paid consultant and was paid with opioid settlement funds specifically to promote and secure Brixadi.

Falsehoods Claimed About Brixadi by Nziwe:

“Gamechanging medication, on the street “they call it the shot” (literally, no, just no, nobody calls anything “the shot”)

“Brixadi….is a 7-Day acting medication, 1 shot and people are good for a week” (Not a one-size fits all drug)

“The Benefits of the medication include eliminating the dope sickness and withdrawal symptoms”, “it helps eliminate the cravings when we get the dosing right you’re good for a week”....and the third benefit is that is helps prevent from overdose, just the way the pharmacology works out, it shields the brain even if someone uses again, with this medication on board they’re protected from overdose”. 

Dziwe claims this is an effective life-saving medication because of these three claims:

1. “Eliminating withdrawal symptoms (nothing eliminates withdrawal symptoms, period)

2. “It reduces cravings (perhaps, but that’s on an individual basis)

3. “They’re protected from overdose” (absolutely, without question, 100% false and dangerous rhetoric)

   Then to truly hammer home falsehoods, Dziwe claims that “people who are on this medication [Brixadi], their chances of dying are cut in half”. 

   Here’s the truth: Brixadi was only approved in 2023 and at that point in time, it was based on a single double-blind clinical study of less than 500 people, paid for by Braeburn (the manufacturer) using Suboxone sublingual versus the Brixadi injection. It’s not certain how a study can be created as a double blind when one group is receiving an entirely different form of Buprenorphine taken an entirely different way (sublingually) vs. an subcutaneous injection of Brixadi, but that was enough for them to come to market. The second study in process was a ridiculous model in a prison settings, and was not random at all. The third study, which was reported in Mid March 2026, tested Brixadi on almost all white, pregnant women. All three studies were paid for by Braeburn itself, making them completely unreliable. 

   Question: “Does Brixadi save lives by protecting users from overdoses due to pharmacology”?

   Answer: ABSOLUTELY NOT!

   Why?

   Whereas “Suboxone” contains Naloxone (Narcan), which is (buprenorphine + naloxone), this component in Suboxone mostly matters if someone injects or misuses the strip/tablet. When taken under the tongue as prescribed, naloxone has very low bioavailability. It does not act like a built‑in Narcan dose keeping them safe if they use on top. There is no Naloxone/Narcan in Brixadi, it is solely Buprenorphine, a Schedule III drug manufactured by Braeburn and sold to the City of Minneapolis by Cardinal Health, who they are also receiving the same opioid settlement funding from. There is no fundamental difference between Brixadi and Sublocade other than the size of the needle, the weekly vs. monthly option, and additional dangers related to the gel-type structure of the medication implanted when administered.

   Often these patients don’t feel much (or anything) from the opioid they use, which is almost always Fentanyl. Buprenorphine sits very tightly on the mu‑opioid receptors. Short‑acting opioids (Fentanyl, most prescription pain pills) usually can’t “displace” it, so people may inject or snort their usual amount and feel surprisingly little euphoria or relief. This can be frustrating and can also push people to keep taking more, leading to overdose and death.

   Claiming that Brixadi saves lives via a brain shield is ridiculous and dangerous. MHealth Fairview’s own data, along with County data, shows that there are virtually no users left who are overdosing from Heroin—fentanyl has completely taken over. This means that the tolerance of those addicted to opioids has skyrocketed much faster than supportive medication can keep up. Without question, some individuals trying Brixadi will try to override the Brixadi (buprenorphine) and risk overdose for a multitude of reasons, and will almost certainly end up using if Brixadi wears off quicker than promised.These people will keep using more and more fentanyl to “break through” the Buprenorphine “block.”

   At that point: If buprenorphine has partially worn off, or the person uses very high‑potency opioids like fentanyl, they can eventually override the blockade. Once that happens, the risk of overdose comes back, especially if they keep escalating the dose, are using benzos/alcohol, or have decreased tolerance. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this promo (Aside from using the phrase “brain shield”) is the absence of accurate information regarding timing of Brixadi administration and drugs like it. When starting on a drug like Brixadi, timing is everything when a user was already in withdrawal and then use. Why BRIXADI can cause precipitated withdrawal.

   BRIXADI is a long‑acting buprenorphine injection. Buprenorphine is a partial agonist with very high affinity at the mu‑opioid receptor. If a person still has a lot of a full agonist opioid on their receptors and you give buprenorphine (including BRIXADI), the buprenorphine can “kick off” the stronger opioid and replace it with a weaker effect. That sudden drop in opioid effect isprecipitated withdrawal. With BRIXADI, that risk is higher‑stakes because it’s depot and long‑acting – you can’t “take it back” like you can with a sublingual dose and once given, it will keep releasing buprenorphine over weeks, so if you precipitate withdrawal, you can’t simply stop the medication and let receptors empty quickly.

   Precipitated withdrawal risk is greatest if the person still has recent or heavy use of full agonists, especially fentanyl or methadone, the person has not yet been successfully stabilized on sublingual buprenorphine first and/or the last opioid use was too recent relative to their level of dependence and the half‑life of the drug(s) involved. This makes the choice to give Brixadi to unknown individual for Free without a complete understanding of the whole person and their path, makes it look like they are guinea pigs more than they are fortunate recipients of a helpful Schedule III Medicaiton. 

   What this ACTUALLY looks like in the ER, and why it’s incredible that Dziwe still has a license, is people are still full of fentanyl from the overdose and haven’t had a meaningful withdrawal period. The ER is busy, there’s pressure to move patients, and someone says, “This shot prevents overdoses, let’s do it now.” Sublingual bupe “test dosing” is rushed or minimal, or not done at all. The Brixadi injection is given as de‑facto first‑line, on the promise that it’ll reduce rehospitalization and overdose, without fully explaining precipitated withdrawal risk or the irreversibility of a depot.

   In summary: They’re absolutely lying about the most important aspects of this new specialty drug, which they purchased directly from Cardinal Health and had it shipped to the Minneapolis Public Service building (Purchase Order/Shipment info included in attachments). Yes, Heidi Ritchie and Suzanne Young, along with Damon Chaplin, Dziwe Ntada and Gregg Harrison —the husband of Adam Fairbanks of the Helix case (which was compared to Feeding Our Future by the City of Minneapolis auditor)—are turning a long‑acting, non‑reversible medication into something like a one‑time procedure done on highly vulnerable people, often in distress, sometimes with weak consent without providing housing support or requiring any follow up. In short: we’re buying drugs from the same company who is paying us opioid settlement money and marketing them as life-saving, when in reality Brixadi is nothing more than big pharma’s newest attempt to profit off of the same crisis they helped create via weekly billing vs. monthly. 

If this sounds a bit familiar, it’s because Adam Fairbanks—the co-owner of Helix LLC and close friend and ally of Jacob Frey—billed over $70 million dollars illegally, and he cannot claim that he didn’t know any better. According to the OLA, nobody ever took credit for this failure, which led to Feeding Our Future being ignored and other systemic failures. This was Feeding Our Future 1.0, and now it’s Feeding Our Future 3.0

Also….HEIDI RITCHIE, SUZANNE YOUNG, AND FREY’S SYCOPHANTS….MAYBE STOP BUYING DRUGS FROM THE COMPANY THAT IS PAYING US FOR CAUSING THE OPIOID CRISIS AND SENDING THEM TO THE OFFICE…NOT A GOOD LOOK.