West Virginia, Center of Opioid Crisis, Cut Out of $48 Billion Pledge (1)

A proposed $48 billion global settlement that would resolve litigation against drug companies blamed for the opioid crisis could have dire consequences for West Virginia, the state hit hardest by the addiction crisis, according to attorneys representing cities and counties in the state.

The reason: West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey earlier struck separate deals with three of the same opioid distributors on behalf of the state totaling $73 million—a figure that has been criticized as far too low to address the crisis in a region widely considered ground zero of the opioid epidemic. Two of the settlements, with Cardinal ...