| Stand and fight or settle? For drugmakers facing a fast-onrushing tide of opioid lawsuits, either path could be perilous. This week in Oklahoma, the first of the more than 1,600 suits filed by U.S. government bodies went to trial. Before the proceedings began, Purdue Pharma and Teva tapped out, settling with the state Attorney General Mike Hunter. Johnson & Johnson chose to fight on. Oklahoma wants $10 billion to refill coffers drained by addressing the addiction crisis. Hunter has cast J&J, which had only a modest share of the state's opioid market, as a kingpin that profited from every stage of the production and sale of addictive painkillers. Amid emotional testimony about the overdose death of a young football star, the drug giant's shares heeled over. They've fallen about 5 percent since the end of last week. Drugmakers that chose to avoid this battle have also suffered. Teva shares have declined 15%, to the lowest level in about two decades, since the generics giant agreed on Sunday to settle the Oklahoma case for $85 million (closely held Purdue settled for $270 million in March). Investors see crippling liabilities even for companies that attempt to make peace. For communities left to pick up the pieces, the urgency for some recompense will only grow.—Tim Annett Here's what else you need to know: Million-dollar moment. Novartis's newly approved potential cure for a lethal childhood disease will be the first drug in the U.S. to cost more than $1 million, heralding a new and expensive era for genetic therapies. Texting cure. A mental-health app that wants to connect people with therapists and addiction treatment via their mobile devices raised $50 million and forged ties with a giant insurer, a sign of telehealth's ascent. Eraser ebullience. Shares of medical-device maker Soliton have roared since the U.S. approved its tattoo-removal device, roughly quintupling in value. Plans to advance a cellulite-reduction device study added pop. Listen up. Season two of our podcast is all about what happens when we hand over our health data to companies and governments. Download it here on Apple devices, and here on Android.  Got this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up to get it every Thursday by clicking here.
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