More than $50 billion in settlement funds is being delivered to thousands of state and local governments from companies accused of flooding their communities with opioid painkillers that have left millions addicted or dead. The settlement money comes from a number of legal battles around the nation and the world.

Christine Minhee, attorney by training and founder of OpioidSettlementTracker.com, has compiled data on the settlements tracking the amount of money allocated and where states have decided to spend it. According to her data, which is used by state governments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the total pot of funds available from the settlements has reached around $54 billion dollars, with nearly half of the money coming from a $26 billion dollar 2022 settlement with drug manufacturers and distributors, and more funds expected from ongoing legal battles.

However, her website says that “of this sum, about 75% – a whopping $39.8 billion – remains unattached to explicit requirements to publicly report opioid remediation expenditures. Thus they have created a state-by-state “Opiod Settlement Transparency Map” to help answer the question “Will opioid settlements be spent in ways that bolster the public health response to drug addiction?”

The California Attorney General confirms that Opioid manufacturers Allergan and Teva have committed to move forward with settlements for up to $2.37 billion and $4.25 billion, respectively, to resolve allegations that, among other things, the companies deceptively marketed opioids by downplaying the risks of addiction and overstating their benefits.

If the settlements are approved by the court, California may receive up to approximately $375 million from the Teva settlement and up to approximately $205 million from the Allergan settlement. The settlements with the opioid manufacturers also include strong injunctive relief that prohibits opioid-related marketing by Teva while Allergan is prohibited from selling opioids for the next 10 years.

Chain pharmacies CVS and Walgreens also committed to moving forward with national settlements worth up to $5 billion and $5.7 billion, respectively, to resolve claims that the companies ignored signs of prescription abuse and failed to prevent drug diversion.

If approved by the court, California may receive up to approximately $470 million from the CVS settlement and up to $510 million from the Walgreens settlement. CVS and Walgreens have also agreed to injunctive relief that requires the pharmacies to monitor, report, and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions. A final agreement with Walmart, worth up to $3.1 billion, is not being announced today; however, that settlement is expected to move forward in the coming weeks.

In addition to these new announcement, in March of 2022, the California Attorney General announced a $6 billion conditional settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family over their alleged deceptive and illegal marketing and sales practices, in an agreement that would also allow the family’s name to be removed from buildings, scholarships, and fellowships.

In February 2022, a bankruptcy court confirmed a plan that would allow an agreement between certain states, including California, and Mallinckrodt, the largest generic opioid manufacturer in the United States, to move forward. That settlement includes an expected $1.6 billion payment by the company to a trust that would benefit public and private opioid-related claimants.

In July 2021, the California Attorney General announced a $26 billion settlement, which was finalized in Spring 2022, with Johnson & Johnson, which manufactured and marketed opioids, and Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen, the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors. It was the second largest multistate agreement in U.S. history, and its terms bar Johnson & Johnson from being involved in selling or promoting opioids for a decade and require the distributors to monitor, report, and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid sales.

In February of 2021, the California Attorney General announced a $573 million settlement with one of the world’s largest consulting firms, McKinsey & Company. The settlement resolves California’s investigation into the company’s role in advising opioid companies (including OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma) in the promotion and sale of their drugs.