Drugmakers eye unusual opioids settlement

Drug companies facing expansive litigation over their role in the opioid crisis are exploring settling the cases by participating in Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Why it matters: If successful, this would either end or shrink the massive federal case pending in Ohio, but it would require a lot of buy-in, including from state attorneys general. The companies — Endo, Johnson & Johnson, Teva, Allergan and Mallinckrodt — want to contribute money to a trust while being released from all liability.

Go deeper: Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy test