$50 Billion Opioid Settlement Offer Sparks States-Cities Fight

About $50 billion in settlement offers by drug makers and distributors have sparked a fight between state attorneys general and thousands of local governments over how much the pharmaceutical industry should pay for its role in creating the U.S. opioid epidemic.

Drug maker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said Oct. 21 it offered $23 billion in treatment medications and $250 million toward a settlement of more than 2,700 lawsuits by states and municipalities. That follows a proposal by Johnson & Johnson’s for $4 billion and another for $18 billion by opioid distributors McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen ...