In America, anyone can sue over anything and when it comes to a jury trial, facts and the law matter a lot less than emotion.

Though spectacular jury verdicts get the media attention, it's in the appeals process that science and precedent enter the picture. So a gigantic award resting on the allegation that a pharmaceutical company violated the state's public nuisance law because they marketed opiods - as required by federal law, because consumer groups claimed a few decades ago that sales reps talking to physicians directly removed consumer choice - and that it was wrong for J&J to be held liable on those grounds. 

With that, a $465 million judgment evaporated, along with the hopes of numerous state and local governments who had hoped to save their faltering pension plans using the private sector. For that reason, one of the law firms behind a $26 billion nationwide settlement proposal urged states to not go to trial - and perhaps end up with nothing.