Last-ditch opioid settlement in Ohio could open door for much larger deal

CLEVELAND - Two Ohio counties and four drug companies settled a landmark lawsuit over responsibility for the opioid epidemic Monday in a deal that could help push the parties toward a wide-ranging agreement on more than 2,400 similar claims filed across the country.

The $260 million settlement, reached just hours before opening arguments were scheduled to begin in the first federal lawsuit of the opioid era, will give Cuyahoga and Summit counties badly needed cash and anti-addiction medication. Those will be provided by mammoth opioid distributors McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health, and drug manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals, four of the defendants in the first case.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/ohio-counties-drug-firms-reach-260m-settlement-averting-trial/2019/10/21/c9ac1dd4-f39f-11e9-ad8b-85e2aa00b5ce_story.html