GREEN RIVER — Four major American pharmaceutical companies have announced that there is sufficient participation by states and litigating local governments to move forward with a comprehensive agreement to settle the vast majority of the opioid lawsuits filed by those groups, including Sweetwater County and Green River.

Defendants AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson make a joint announcement on their decision on February 25. As of that date, 46 of 49 eligible states, and more than 90 percent of eligible political subdivisions that have brought opioid-related suits against the companies, have agreed to participate in the settlement or have had their claims addressed by state legislation.

Sweetwater County and Green River have notified the federal court in Cleveland, Ohio that each entity has agreed to participate in the distributor settlement through their attorneys Charlie Barnum and Rick Koehmstedt.

AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson, along with Johnson and Johnson, will pay a combined total of approximately $26 billion over the next 18 years under the settlement agreement. This settlement will provide thousands of communities across the United States with much needed financial assistance in fighting the opioid crisis.

The agreement goes into effect on April 2. The distributors’ first annual payment (currently in escrow) will be released to the participating states on the effective date or as soon thereafter as all conditions under the settlement have been met.

A number of permitted uses are tied to the settlement including those for treatment:

Specific numbers about what each state and community will receive from the settlement have not been disclosed at this time.