10-13B-3 (2019)
Bar to litigation by state-wide opioid settlement; exception; effective date
(a) Entry into a state-wide opioid settlement agreement shall serve to bar any and all past, present, or future claims on behalf of any governmental entity seeking to recover against any business or person that is a released entity under the terms of the relevant settlement. Such bar shall apply to any and all released claims or suits by any governmental entity created by or pursuant to an Act of the General Assembly, the Constitution, or any department, agency, or authority thereof, for damages, abatement, injunctive, or any other relief. No such claim barred by this Code section shall be brought, threatened, asserted or pursued in any way in any court, and any such claim shall be dismissed by the court in which the claim is brought.
(b) The bar provided for in subsection (a) of this Code section shall not apply to a bellwether claim of any governmental entity, provided that such claim:
(1) Is brought in the proceedings titled In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, Case No.: MDL 2804 as bellwether claims that are to be tried in a bellwether trial;
(2) Is selected by the court in In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, Case No.: MDL 2804 as a bellwether claim to be tried in a bellwether trial; and
(3) Is brought against defendants selected as bellwether defendants in a bellwether trial.
(c) The bar provided for in subsection (a) of this Code section shall become active and effective upon the filing of a consent order by the state that attests to and evidences that a state-wide opioid settlement agreement has been reached, and that the parameters of this chapter have been met.
History
Code 1981, § 10-13B-3, enacted by Ga. L. 2022, p. 178, § 1/SB 500; Ga. L. 2024, p. 1052, § 2(64)/SB 448, effective July 1, 2024.
Amendments. The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation in subsection (a).
Annotations
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Preemption provision of Settlement Act. - In an action concerning whether a state entity can continue asserting claims against opioid manufacturers and distributors after the State of Georgia entered into a settlement with the pharmaceutical companies, the Supreme Court of Georgia held that a hospi-
tal authority did not have the legal authority to challenge the constitutionality of the Settlement Act, O.C.G.A. § 10-13B-1 et seq. Hospital Authority of Wayne County v. Amerisourcebergen Drug Corp., 317 Ga. 182, 891 S.E.2d 786, 2023 Ga. LEXIS 175 (2023).
CHAPTER 14 CEMETERY AND FUNERAL SERVICES Sec.
Sec. Short title. Legislative findings and intent. Definitions. Authority of boards. Registration of cemetery owners, preneed dealers, and burial or funeral merchandise dealers; exemptions; nonperpetual care cemeteries. Registration of preneed sales agents; retention of employee applications by registered cemeteries. Relationship between life insurance and funeral establishment. Perpetual care trust funds. Preneed escrow accounts or trust funds. Trust funds or escrow accounts for preneed funeral services. Prohibition of certain persons from employment; notice and hearing; emergency orders. Amendment of registration applications; audit of registrant records; transfer of ownership in cemeteries or preneed dealers. Minimum acreage for cemeteries; exceptions. Stop orders suspending, revoking, or denying the effectiveness of registration; late penalty fees. Separate accounts and records; owner acting as trustee; removal of trustee
Cross references. Authority of administrator to issue cease and desist orders or impose civil penalty, judicial relief, and receivers, § 10-1-397.3.
or escrow agent; financial reports. Venue for civil or criminal actions. Administration of chapter; rules and regulations. Investigations by Secretary of State; subpoenas; hearings. Cemetery rules and regulations; schedule of charges. Prohibited acts; fees. Duties of registrants; requirements of written contracts. Enforcement of chapter; civil penalties. Criminal penalties. Purchaser’s remedy for violations. Judicial appeal of orders issued by Secretary of State. Administrative appeal of orders issued by Secretary of State. Effect of consent to service of process. Waiver of rights or defenses in cemetery purchase agreements void. Secretary of State immune from liability. [Reserved] Evidence in civil or criminal actions under chapter. Actions pending under prior law. Construction of mausoleums and columbariums; preconstruction trust funds. Adoption of minimum standards by Secretary of State.
Disposition of dead bodies, § 31-21-1 et seq. Limitations upon right to choose funeral services for insured, entry into contracts by life insurers, and receiving of
compensation from undertakers, § 33-1-10 et seq. Regulation of funeral directors, embalmers, and funeral establishments, and contracts for preneed funeral services, § 43-18-1 et seq. Protection of American Indian human remains and burial objects, § 44-12-260 et seq. Administrative rules and regulations. Rules of General Applicability, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Office of Secretary of State, Cemeteries, Preneed Dealers, and Merchandise Dealers, Chapter Rule 590-3-1-.01 et seq. Preneed Sales Agents, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Office of Secretary of State, Cemeteries, Preneed Dealers, and Merchandise Dealers, Rule 590-3-2-.01 et. seq. Preneed Dealers, Official Compilation
of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Office of Secretary of State, Cemeteries, Preneed Dealers, and Merchandise Dealers, Rule 590-3-4-.01 et. seq. Merchandise Dealers, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Office of Secretary of State, Cemeteries, Preneed Dealers, and Merchandise Dealers, Rule 590-3-5-.01 et. seq. Mausoleum Preconstruction, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Office of Secretary of State, Cemeteries, Preneed Dealers, and Merchandise Dealers, Rule 590-3-6-.01 et. seq. Administrative Hearings, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Office of Secretary of State, Cemeteries, Preneed Dealers, and Merchandise Dealers, Rule 590-3-7-.01 et seq.
RESEARCH REFERENCES ALR. Validity and reasonableness of rules and regulations of cemetery company or association as to improvement or care of lots, 32 A.L.R. 1406; 47 A.L.R. 70. Cemetery property and cemetery lots as subject to assessment for public improvement, in absence of express exemption, 71 A.L.R. 322. Rights and remedies of holder of lien on cemetery property, 90 A.L.R. 444. Right to take property under eminent domain as affected by fact that property is already devoted to cemetery purposes, 109 A.L.R. 1502. Right to exclude from privilege of burial in cemetery, 110 A.L.R. 388. Validity of public prohibition or regulation of location of cemetery, 50 A.L.R.2d 905.
Cemetery or burial ground as nuisance, 50 A.L.R.2d 1324. To whom does title to burial lot pass on testator’s death, in absence of specific provision in his will, 26 A.L.R.3d 1425. Liability of cemetery in connection with conducting or supervising burial services, 42 A.L.R.4th 1059. Dead bodies: liability for improper manner of reinterment, 53 A.L.R.4th 394. Construction and effect of contracts or insurance policies providing preneed coverage of burial expense or services, 67 A.L.R.4th 36. Validity, construction, and application of statutes or ordinances regulating perpetual-care trust funds of cemeteries and mausoleums, 54 A.L.R.5th 681.