Over 90 percent of eligible California cities and counties have signed onto a historic billion-dollar settlement with the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors over their alleged role in fueling the widespread opioid epidemic in the state, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Wednesday. The $26 billion settlement with Cardinal Health, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen as well as Johnson & Johnson, comes following investigations by state attorneys into whether the three companies failed to refuse to ship opioids to pharmacies that submitted suspicious drug orders. It also focused on whether drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson had misled patients and doctors about the addictive nature of opioid drugs, which are primarily used for pain relief. In California, over 400 cities and counties—representing 97 percent of the state’s population—have signed on to the settlement, meaning that the state looks set to receive the full share of the national settlement, which is more than $2 billion, Bonta said. The money is largely intended to fund opioid treatment and …