A handful of municipalities are fighting efforts to force them to sign on to opioid settlements negotiated by state attorneys general and private lawyers, as the nation's largest pharmacy chains have offered $13.8 billion to resolve litigation.

In an order last week, U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster asked Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr to opine on the constitutionality of a statute passed in May that required municipal plaintiffs to honor settlements negotiated at the state level. The Hospital Authority of Wayne County is challenging the law, Georgia Code 10-13B-1, saying the Georgia Constitution bars retroactive laws.

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