Ohio governor convenes talks with lawyers in opioid lawsuits

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has convened a meeting with the state attorney general and lawyers for cities and counties involved in the national opioid litigation to discuss how millions in settlement dollars might be spent.

The Republican governor told The Associated Press he expects about 90 people at the Governor’s Residence on Wednesday morning.

The event comes two days after the nation’s three biggest drug distributors and a major drugmaker agreed to an 11th-hour, $260 million settlement over the toll taken by opioids in two Ohio counties, averting the first federal trial over the crisis.

DeWine said he wants avoid a judge or court-appointed panel deciding how that money, as well as money Ohio might receive in any future global settlement, would be spent.