Squandered Big Tobacco Money a Cautionary Tale in Opioid Cases

States are expected to get a windfall in settlement funds from the hundreds of lawsuits that have been filed against opioid manufacturers and distributors, but there are doubts about whether the money will actually go to treat and prevent opioid addiction.

Public health attorneys and advocates are pessimistic.

They’ve seen settlements squandered before, back when states tried to hold Big Tobacco accountable for misleading Americans about the addictive and deadly effects of smoking. Lawsuits against opioid makers like Purdue Pharma LP and Johnson & Johnson are looking a lot like those battles with tobacco in the 1990s.

Nearly every state ...