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1 1 (November 25, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govbbxq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Overview of the Opioid Litigation and Related Settlements and Settlement Proposals November 25, 2019 According to the latest available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the opioid epidemic has claimed the lives of nearly 400,000 people in the United States between 1999 and 2017. As described in an earlier Sidebar, the severity of the epidemic has prompted state and local governments to address the issue not only through legislation and executive actions, but also through court challenges filed around the country that seek to hold certain opioid manufacturers, distributors, or other supply chain entities legally liable for the epidemic. These challenges-which generally seek to recover the costs incurred or will be incurred by the state and local governments to address the epidemic-have generally proceeded in two settings: * In the opicid multidistrict Iitigation (MDL) formed in a federal district court, where more than 2,400 cases filed by local governments (and other non-governmental plaintiffs) have been coordinated; * In various state courts, where state governments have filed their cases. In recent months, several case s elnts or settlement proposals related to these cases have been announced. Sorne of the settlements are more typical litigation settlements that would settle claims against a defendant in a specific case. Other settlement proposals would more broadly settle cases across both the MDL and state courts. One global settlement proposal, for instance, would globally settle claims against Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. Under another proposal, four state attorneys general (from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas) reached a $48 billion global settlement framework with three major drug distributors and two drug manufacturers. This proposal would resolve all state and local government opioid claims against those companies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Representatives of certain local governments-particularly those that have cases pending in the MDL-have, however, already voiced their public rejection of this settlement framework. As Congress continues to analyze the opioid litigation and consider ways to address the opioid epidemic, this Sidebar provides an overview of the pending state and local government opioid litigation and the related settlements or settlement proposals. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10365 CRS Legal Sidabar Prepared for Members and C om m ritees o C onqgress ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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