Governor Brain Kemp has signed opioid legislation to secure more than $600 million in an opioid settlement. Under the national agreement, Georgia would receive $636 million dollars from the $26-billion multistate opioid settlement with the nation’s three major distributors, Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergenas well as manufacturer Johnson and Johnson.
Under the agreement, the state would have to enact a litigation bar that would prevent local governments from pursuing any further legal action. With SB 500 signed into law, Georgia will now receive an initial allocation of $66 million dollars within 90 days, instead of over a multi-year period.
According to the governor’s office, fentanyl-related deaths in Georgia have increased by 218 percent from 2019 to 2021.
