Local Governments Seek Negotiating Power in Opioid Lawsuit

Local Governments Seek Negotiating Power in Opioid Lawsuit
Christine Gagnon of Southington, Conn. protests with other family and friends who have lost loved ones to OxyContin and opioid overdoses at Purdue Pharma LLP headquarters in Stamford, Conn., on Aug. 17, 2018. Jessica Hill/AP Photo
|Updated:

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Lawyers suing over the toll of opioids asked a judge on June 14 to allow a structure for all 25,000 municipal and county governments in the U.S. to be paid if a settlement can be reached with companies that make and distribute powerful prescription painkillers.

The approach, if approved, would create dueling negotiating systems as state governments are also in collective settlement negotiations with the drug industry.