Why Houston and other cities want nothing to do with the massive national opioid lawsuit

HOUSTON — There are hundreds of cities and counties involved in the mass opioid litigation being hammered out in Ohio. Pegi Block wishes them the best. But for now, the Houston prosecutor has no interest in joining their effort.

Harris County, where Block is an assistant county attorney, sued opioid manufacturers and drug distributors in December, alleging — like other plaintiffs around the country — that they flooded communities with addictive painkillers while downplaying the risk of the medications. But the county, the country’s third largest, is fighting to keep its case in state court and separate from the so-called multidistrict litigation being overseen by a federal judge in Cleveland.

“The damages were incurred here,” Block said in an interview at the county