HOWARD COUNTY, MD — More than 2,000 of the lawsuits aiming to hold drug makers, pharmacies and distributors accountable for the thousands of deaths now attributed to opioid overdoses were consolidated into what is considered a landmark case in Ohio federal court. Numerous other cases are also weeding their way through courts around the country.

Judge Dan Aaron Polster — the federal judge overseeing the proposed negotiations in the landmark case in Ohio — has encouraged parties to settle the case. Last week, Polster approved the formation of an entity that gives every U.S. city and county a stake in any settlement that may be reached with a defendant.

Many state attorneys general were against Polster's decision, fearing that their state-level cases would be undermined. In his opinion approving the so-called negotiating class, Polster wrote that the process does not interfere with states settling their own cases in any way that they want.