"Top drug distributors in talks to settle opioid litigation for $18 billion, report says", 15 Oct 2019

State and local officials are reportedly in talks with three major drug distributors on a potential $18 billion settlement of litigation that blames them for helping to fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic.

The potential settlement...would require McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health to collectively pay the $18 billion over 18 years...

States, local governments and Native American tribes have filed some 2,000 opioid lawsuits against the distributors, drugmakers and other companies public officials say contributed to the opioid crisis...

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma said it reached its own tentative agreement last month to settle much of its outstanding opioid litigation. The deal is going to cost the company and its billionaire owners, the Sackler family, about $10 billion...