Ashley Moody

The anonymous hotline was designed to give police, firefighters or EMTs a way to seek help for trauma they receive on the job.

Attorney General Ashley Moody wants the high court to decide whether hospital districts and school boards should be able to pursue opioid lawsuits after she reached settlements with the pharmaceutical industry.

The appellate ruling was part of decades of legal wrangling about a duPont charitable trust and the nonprofit Nemours Foundation, which was created with money from the trust and provides pediatric medical care.

One issue centers on a website AHCA launched on Amendment 4. It defends current abortion law in Florida while claiming that the proposed amendment “threatens women’s safety.”

A panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal rejected Attorney General Ashley Moody’s arguments that her office had the power to enter settlements that would effectively trump lawsuits by local agencies.

The ruling was a victory for the five hospitals and two school districts that want to pursue lawsuits to recover costs related to treating patients and educating children affected by the opioid epidemic.

According to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement report, total drug-related deaths, opioid-caused deaths and deaths caused by fentanyl were all down in the first half of 2023.

The federal change is designed to prevent discrimination in programs that receive federal money. In a lawsuit, the state claims it interferes with Florida laws "protecting the health and safety of its residents.”

Attorney General Ashley Moody's office and abortion opponents are urging justices to consider another part of the state constitution that they say could apply to proposed ballot amendment.

A judge had ruled the state had the authority to enter settlements with the pharmaceutical industry that trumped lawsuits pursued by the hospital districts and school boards.