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An 11th-hour bid to delay a landmark federal opioid trial failed after a group of state attorneys general tried to persuade U.S. District Court Judge Dan Aaron Polster to give them more time to craft a settlement in their own cases, according to people with familiar with the events. They told Polster they were trying to reach an $18 billion settlement with the nation’s three largest drug distributors, McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, according to the people familiar with the events who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. (Bernstein, Higham, Horwitz and Davis, 10/15)

The three distributors— McKesson Corp. , AmerisourceBergen Corp. , and Cardinal Health Inc. —would collectively pay $18 billion over 18 years under the deal currently on the table, the people said. Johnson & Johnson is also involved in the discussions to contribute additional money, some of the people said. Players up and down the pharmaceutical supply chain, including drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies, have been sued by virtually every state and thousands of city and county governments. Over 2,000 lawsuits allege the industry’s overly aggressive marketing of prescription painkillers and lax oversight over drug distribution contributed to widespread opioid addiction. (Randazzo, 10/15)

AmerisourceBergen declined to comment. McKesson and Cardinal Health didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. “As previously stated, we remain open to viable options to resolve these cases, including through settlement,” J&J spokesman Jake Sargent said when asked about the potential settlement. (10/15)

Pressure is mounting for McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health, as all three are set to begin trial in a Cleveland federal court on Monday, according to the Journal. By the end of it, the deal could include other drug companies, such as Johnson & Johnson, as well as the donation of opioid addiction treatment medicine. (Johnson, 10/15)

Johnson & Johnson has offered to pay $4 billion to settle all claims accusing the company of helping fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic as part of a potentially larger deal involving drugmakers and distributors that could top $20 billion. J&J’s overture came on the heels of a proposal by distributors McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp. to pay $18 billion to wipe out all opioid suits against those companies, according to people familiar with the pitch. The Wall Street Journal first reported the distributors’ offer Tuesday. The money would be paid out in annual $1 billion increments, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. (Feeley and Griffin, 10/15)

The U.S. opioids epidemic has claimed more than 400,000 lives and left millions of people addicted, strained health care, law enforcement and social service systems, cost governments billions, and bankrupted the best-known manufacturer of narcotic painkillers. Now, 12 ordinary people will decide whether drug companies should be held responsible for the worst drug crisis in U.S. history and forced to pay billions of dollars to help clean it up. That effort begins Wednesday in U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster’s courtroom on the 18th floor of the federal building here, where attorneys will start picking a jury for the landmark trial. (Bernstein, 10/15)

The Oklahoma judge who recently ordered pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million for its role in the state's opioid crisis says he made a mathematical error when calculating the judgment. As part of the landmark verdict in August, Judge Thad Balkman set aside $107,683,000 to help combat neonatal abstinence syndrome, or NAS. The problem -- he added three too many zeroes and meant to award $107,683. (Becker and Smith, 10/16)

In less than a week, a landmark battle over who bears responsibility for the U.S. opioid crisis will begin in federal court. The case involves thousands of plaintiffs at virtually every level of government and defendants from every link in the chain of opioid drug production — from major multinational corporations such as Johnson & Johnson and CVS, right down to individual doctors. And on Oct. 21, the first trial is set to kick off before a judge in the Northern District of Ohio. (Dwyer, 10/15)

The opioid crisis cost the U.S. economy $631 billion from 2015 through last year — and it may keep getting more expensive, according to a study released Tuesday by the Society of Actuaries. The biggest driver of the cost over the four-year period is unrealized lifetime earnings of those who died from the drugs, followed by health care costs. (10/15)