Georgia will receive a total of $638 million as part of a $26 billion multistate settlement with companies that made or distributed prescription painkillers tied to the deadly opioid crisis.
As part of that settlement, Atlanta and Georgia’s four largest counties — Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett — have been designated to receive about $7 million and are set to get more than $26 million in future payouts.
In Georgia, state officials are set to announce the creation of the Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust, which will receive $479 million from the settlement. Of that, $159 million will be distributed to local governments.
Brown Greer, the company appointed to administer the settlement , says the amount of money allotted to each state is based on a number of factors including the amount of opioids shipped to them, the number of opioid deaths within a state’s borders and how many of their residents are suffering from opioid addiction. Under the settlement, 85% of the money will be spent on fighting the crisis through treatment, education and prevention programs.
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