UPDATE 1-Drug companies reach settlement as opioid trial set to begin

Four drug companies reached a last-minute legal settlement over their role in the opioid addiction epidemic, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Drug distributors AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and McKesson Corp and Israel-based drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd will announce the settlement on Monday, according to the report.

It was unclear if the fifth defendant, pharmacy chain operator Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, had reached a settlement with the two Ohio counties that were the plaintiffs in the trial set to begin Monday morning.