MACON, Ga. — Across Georgia, nearly $158.5 million has been distributed to local governments after a record-breaking $26 billion opioid epidemic settlement, according to KFF News. They're the news arm of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The companies Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson reached the agreement in 2022 after state attorney generals sued them "to seek justice for their alleged role in fueling the opioid crisis and its catastrophic effects on Georgia citizens."
That was according to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, who joined the group of state attorney generals in the lawsuit.
The filings allege that the companies ignored the dangers of opioids and engaged in "a false and deceptive marketing campaign" to help push sales of opioids while "grossly understated the dangerous addiction risks of opioids, while overstating their benefit," the Georgia Attorney Generals Office said at the time.
The entire $26 billion is to be paid over 10 years and, according to data from BrownGreer — which dolls out the settlements — considerable funds are already flowing into local government's coffers since the settlement was reached in 2022.
Nationwide, $4.3 billion has been paid as of February, according to KFF News.
While many metro-Atlanta municipalities have had the largest payouts in the Peach State so far — including over $2 million to Cobb County, $1.7 million to Gwinett County or $1.4 million to Dekalb County — some Central Georgia towns and counties are receiving their piece of the pie, too.
We dug through the data, compiled by KFF News, to see how much money is coming to communities here in Central Georgia so far. Here's what we found:
Macon-Bibb County: $716,117.38
Houston County: $296,058.34
Laurens County: $185,514.82
Troup County: $153,155.13
Butts County: $112,332.26
Jones County: $98,008.68
Oconee County: $96,152.72
Monroe County: $87,066.37
Peach County: $81,970.31
Telfair County: $65,563.99
Dublin: $56,493.13
Milledgeville: $47,487.74
Crisp County: $45,820.39
Crawford County: $45,322.5
Macon County: $39,254.67
Perry: $33,732.27
Johnson County: $30,976.11
Wilkinson County: $29,941.17
Dooly County: $26,819.93
Twiggs County: $22,630.57
Hancock County: $18,969.08
This is also only the start. According to the data, Bibb County is expected to receive over $2.5 million by the time the settlement is fully paid out. Houston County is estimated to receive over $1 million as well.
The funds are primarily geared toward addressing addiction and drug abuse.
The companies emphasized at the time that, in reaching the settlement, they are not admitting guilt