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Lawyers involved in the enormous, nationwide lawsuit against opioid manufacturers have proposed a "novel" settlement arrangement, the New York Times reports.
The state of play: Every local and county government in the country would be part of it — not just the 1,650 governments that are currently suing.
Why it matters: This structure was designed to prod drug companies "to negotiate a settlement in earnest, something they have largely resisted," according to the Times.
- Settling with all these cities now would stave off future lawsuits from those local governments. But states and individuals could still bring their own suits.
Go deeper: Opioid addiction is drastically undertreated