Four drugs companies in the United States have agreed to pay up to $26 billion to settle claims that they fuelled an opioid addiction crisis in the country. The deal was unveiled by a group of state attorneys general and could settle thousands of cases over the epidemic. Opioid addiction is estimated to have claimed over one million lives in the US. Individual states and local governments will now have to sign up to the deal, but there are divisions over how the payout will be shared.
