Four drug firms agree to pay $26bn in proposed US opioid settlement

Four pharmaceutical companies accused of fueling the United States' opioid epidemic would pay up to $26 billion to resolve thousands of claims in federal and state courts. The proposed settlement is the largest unveiled in the multi-year legal effort to hold the industry accountable for the opioids crisis, which has caused more than 500,000 deaths in the US in the last 20 years.