The deal settles claims brought by Ohio’s Cuyahoga and Summit counties, which had accused the companies of fueling a nationwide opioid crisis. Some 400,000 U.S. overdose deaths between 1997 and 2017 were linked to opioids, according to government data. The trial was to be a so-called bellwether or test trial that was meant to help shape a broader settlement of some 2,600 lawsuits pending over the toll opioids have taken on local communities and the nation. Download