大象传媒

The city of Brunswick, Ohio has joined hundreds of other jurisdictions across the United States to file a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical companies that make opioids. The epidemic of addiction has caused an extraordinary number of fatalities. We hear from Dr Richard Blondell, Professor of Family Medicine at the University at Buffalo in upstate New York and we also get the view of the man charged with overseeing the plethora of lawsuits against the opioid makers - District Judge Dan Polster of Cleveland, Ohio. And to delve into the possible costs of the lawsuit we talk to Professor Paul Nolette from the Political Science faculty at Marquette University in Milwaukee. We also get a statement from one biggest companies named in the lawsuits.

Admirers of the British royal family have a lot to look forward to this year. In April, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are due to have their third child. And in May, Prince Harry will marry Meghan Markle. It'll mean brisk business for the people who produce commemorative merchandise, as Sara Macham reports.

We cross to Taiwan to hear the latest from the 大象传媒's Cindy Sui.

And joining us throughout the programme are Freshdialogue.com's Alison van Diggelen in Silicon Valley and Catherine Yeung, Investment Director at Fidelity International who's in Hong Kong.

(Image: painkillers, credit: Getty Images)