Opioid settlement funds coming to Memphis nonprofits
Several Memphis nonprofit organizations have been selected in the first round of community grants totaling $80 million, stemming from opioid lawsuits against the makers of the prescription opioid OxyContin, in which it claims the pharmaceutical company knew its prescription painkiller was helping create the opioid epidemic. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti speaks to the Memphis Rotary Club in October 2023. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)
The $80 million, which will be divided among 85 awardees statewide, represents just a portion of the total settlement money the state will receive from opioid producers, distributors, pharmacies and marketers over an 18-year period.
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Opioid Epidemic Opioid Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti nonprofit sectorAisling Mäki
Aisling Mäki covers health care, banking and finance, technology and professions. After launching her career in news two decades ago, she worked in public relations for almost a decade before returning to journalism in 2022.
As a health care reporter, she’s collaborated with The Carter Center, earned awards from the Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalists and won a 2024 Tennessee Press Association first-place prize for her series on discrepancies in Shelby County life expectancy by ZIP code.
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