Ohio counties, drug firms reach $260 million settlement in opioid epidemic case, averting trial

Two Ohio counties settled with four drug companies on the eve of a landmark federal trial over responsibility for the opioid epidemic, in a $260 million deal that emerged just an hour before opening arguments were set to begin Monday.

The deal is with the “Big Three” distributors McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health and Teva Pharmaceuticals, the Israeli-based manufacturer of generic opioids. The agreement does not include a fifth defendant, Walgreens, the retail drugstore chain that was sued over its own distribution operation. Walgreens’ case was postponed.

A sixth...