A4 World/Nation The Boston Globe TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2019
ByJan Hoffman
NEW YORK TIMES
Over the past18 months,
progress toward a settlementin
the massivefederal opioidliti-
gation has stalled,even as the
costs of the crisis continueto
mount.
Now, an inventive planto
jump-start negotiations, recent-
ly put forth by lawyers for the
nearly 2,000citiesand counties
that have brought cases, is fac-
ing attacks froman unlikely
source.Pushbackthat could
torpedoit is coming less from
the corporate defendantsthan
from the localities’ uneasy al-
lies: the states.
It is a struggle over power,
politics,and money. And in an
arena filled with outsized egos,
the fightis alsovery much
aboutwhowill get to claim
credit for resolving a public
healthcrisisthat has killed
morethan200,000 people
since 1999 and sunk many
more into debilitating addic-
tion.
A hearing on the proposal is
scheduledfor Tuesday in Cleve-
landbefore the federal judge
whois overseeing the cases,
Dan A. Polster.
The plan was devised to ad-
dressa majorstickingpoint:
The defendants, including
manufacturers that developed
and madethe drugs,Fortune
20 companies that distributed
them,and national pharmacy
chains that sold them, want an
end to the constant streamof
lawsuits.
So lawyersfor the plaintiffs
suggested allowingall 34,
towns, cities, and counties in
the country to vote on settle-
ment offers. After an offer is ap-
proved, they will be bound by
the outcomeand can bringno
further suits.All voting com-
munitiesaffected by the crisis
would get a portion of the pay-
out.
But a letter signed by a bi-
partisan coalition of 39 state at-
torneys general raises argu-
ments that could topplethe am-
bitiousproposaland further
slow talks.
Ratherthanmyriad cities
and counties, they contend, it is
the states, throughlaw enforce-
ment and regulatory authority,
that can efficiently wrest a
high-impact national agree-
ment. They maintainthat this
plangoes behind the backs of
the states pursuingcases
brought by their own attorneys
general, who are elected or ap-
pointed. By contrast, local gov-
ernments are using private law-
yers, who work on contingency
fees.
The states also fear that the
planwould corral money for
the cities and counties that they
shouldcontrol. Andbecause
this “negotiation class” is un-
tested, they argue,it is likely to
be appealed,delaying remedies
for everyone.
“In my view, it’s the plain-
tiffs’ lawyersusing local govern-
mentsto hijack the sovereignty
of the states and create ‘city
states,’” said Dave Yost, the
Ohio attorney general, who
filed a letter critical of the plan.
The plaintiffs also intend
their proposal to be a course
correction to the Big Tobacco
settlement, and a possible tem-
plate for future resolutions in
such public welfare areas as
firearms, climate change, and
environmental pollution.
The 1998Master Tobacco
Settlement, which resulted in
payouts of some $250 billion,
was struckbetween five ciga-
rette manufacturers and 46
states seekingreimbursement
for their Medicaid programs for
treating tobacco-related illness-
es. But muchof the money
went to discretionary fundsof
state legislatures.
Still bitter aboutthoseout-
comes, communities whose cof-
fers had been depleted by the
opioid crisis decidedto sign
withprivate lawyers, circum-
venting the states.
If Polster does certify the
proposal, it is unclear whether
the states or even the defen-
dants can appeal.Partiesduel overUS opioidaccordStatesopposecities’payoutplanByAmir Vahdat
andJill Lawless
ASSOCIATEDPRESS
TEHRAN — Britain said
Monday it wouldjoin a US-led
naval security missionin the
Strait of Hormuz, where Iran’s
seizure of merchant vessels has
raised tensions with the West.
Earlier, Iran’s foreign minister
lambasted recent US financial
sanctionsagainst him,calling
the move a ‘‘failure’’ for diplo-
macy.
IranianForeign Minister
MohammadJavad Zarif told re-
porters in Tehran that ‘‘impos-
ing sanctions against a foreign
minister means failure’’ for any
efforts at negotiations and
means the side imposingthe
measures is ‘‘opposing talks.’’
The US administration last
weekannouncedsanctions on
Zarif, a month after President
Trumphad imposedsimilar
sanctions on Iran’s supreme
leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The moves are seenas part
of Washington’s escalating cam-
paign in what Trumpcalls
‘‘maximumpressure’’ on the Is-
lamic Republic.
The United States has in-
creasingly deployedmilitary re-
inforcements to the region
amidunspecifiedthreats from
Iran in the wake of Trump’s
withdrawal last year from the
2015 nuclear deal between Iran
and world powers.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense
said it ‘‘will draw largely on as-
sets already in the region.’’ It
said the Royal Navy will work
alongside the US Navy to escort
vesselsthroughthe Strait of
Hormuz, which is at the mouth
of the Persian Gulf, a shipping
channel for one-fifth of all glob-
al crude oil exports.
Two RoyalNavy warships
are currently in the region, the
frigate Montroseand the de-
stroyer Duncan. The Montrose
is due to leave for plannedre-
pairslater this month.
Britain has beengiving UK-
flagged vessels in the region a
naval escort since Iran’s Revolu-tionary Guards seizeda British-
flagged oil tanker last month.
SomeIranianofficials suggest-
ed the seizureof the StenaIm-
pero was retaliation for the sei-
zure of an Iranian oil tanker off
the British overseas territory of
Gibraltar.
Europeannationshave been
reluctant to take part in the US
naval mission,and Germany
has said it will not be involved.
Last month, then-UK For-
eign Secretary Jeremy Hunt an-
nouncedthat Great Britain
would join with European allies
to form a ‘‘maritimeprotection
mission’’ in the strait.Hunt has sincelost his job,
and that effort appears to have
foundered. Britain’s Ministry of
Defensesaid the United States
and the United Kingdom hoped
other countries will join the
new mission.
Prime Minister BorisJohn-
son’s spokesman, James Slack,
said Britain was still seekingan
internationalcoalition,though
he did not say who would be in
it.
Zarif had stressedMonday
that Washington’s policy of
‘‘talkingaboutwar as an option
that remainson the tablecan-
not stand.’’Zarif’s press conference
came a day after Iran an-
nounced its forces had seized a
foreign ship in the Persian Gulf
suspected of carrying smuggled
fuel, but provided no details on
the vessel or the nationality of
the crew. It was the Revolution-
ary Guard’s third seizureof a
vesselin recentweeksand the
latest show of strength by the
paramilitary force amidthe
spike in tensions.
Six oil tankers have also
beentargeted in the Gulf of
Omanin unclaimed acts of sab-
otage that the US blames on
Iran. Iran has deniedany in-
volvement in those attacks.
In June, Iran shot down an
Americansurveillancedronein
the Strait of Hormuz.Trump
came close to retaliating, but
calledoff an airstrike at the last
moment.
Maritimesecurity in the re-
gion was further jolted in mid-
July, whenthe Revolutionary
Guard’s naval forces confirmed
they had seizeda United Arab
Emirates-based oil tanker, the
Panamanian-flagged MT Riah,
for allegedlytraffickingfuel
fromIraniansmugglersto for-
eign customers.
Britain and other European
nations have distanced them-
selves from the American ‘‘max-
imum pressure’’ strategy. Un-
like the US, European countries
still adhere to the international
nuclear deal.
Iran recentlybegansurpass-
ing uranium enrichment limits
set in the 2015 deal, but says
these moves can be reversed if
givenenough economic incen-
tives to offset US sanctions.UKto join US Strait of Hormuz security mission
Te nsionssimmer
in gulfas Iran
slamssanctions
MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES VIA AP
British-flaggedoiltanker StenaImperowasseizedin anIranianport city last month,and
officialssuggestedit couldbereleasedin exchangeforanIranianshipseizedoff Gibraltar.Calltoday to schedule your FREE, in-homeconsultation!
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