Missouri would get $500M under opioid settlement

(AP) Missouri could get as much as $500 million to help victims of the opioid epidemic as part of a tentative settlement with the three biggest U.S. drug distribution companies and the drugmaker Johnson & Johnson.

Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Thursday announced Missouri’s share of the $26 billion deal with states and local governments. Schmitt says it would be the biggest “victim-centric” settlement ever in Missouri.

All of the settlement money would go to treatment and prevention programs in Missouri. Schmitt says Missouri counties need to sign on to the agreement for the state to get its full share.