Why Opioid Victims Aren’t Getting Billions of Dollars They Were Promised

Drugmakers and distributors pledged tens of billions of dollars to settle lawsuits accusing them of helping fuel the country’s opioid crisis. But much of the money may never be paid.

Opioid victims are finding that billions of settlement dollars have been snared in the morass of the nation’s bankruptcy system, where they face financial engineering by sophisticated investors and management teams, roadblocks from the federal government, and extensive legal wrangling and costs.