Missouri could get more than 500-million-dollars in an opioid settlement. During a press conference Thursday, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt says the deal involves Johnson and Johnson, along with four distributors of addictive painkillers. Schmitt says the money the state receives will go entirely to things like addiction treatment, recovery and intervention programs as well as treatment courts.

Under the agreement, Johnson & Johnson must stop opioid sales altogether and cannot fund or provide grants to third parties for promoting opioids. Schmitt says last year, 1,842 Missourians lost their lives last year due to drug overdose – a 17-percent increase compared to 2019.