Union County will join a list of counties involved in a potential lawsuit against opioid manufacturers after the Union County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution on Monday.
The resolution and potential lawsuit would allow Union County to receive possible compensation for costs incurred because of the use, abuse and overuse of opioid medications.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates societal costs of opioid addiction at around $75 billion annually, and many states and counties are looking to recuperate some of the costs associated with combating what President Donald Trump has called an epidemic.
“The ISAC (Iowa State Association of Counties) Board encourages their member counties to immediately support litigation proposed by Creuger Dickinson [LLC] and Simmons Hanly Conroy [LLC], and join in litigation to hold certain pharmaceutical firms responsible for damages to the public and for misrepresenting the safety of using opioids,” according to a letter received by the Board of Supervisors. “The ISAC Board encourages the Board of Supervisors to sign a resolution to that effect so that Iowa counties may represent a unified front at the federal level.”
“The National Institute for Health has identified the manufacturers of certain opioid medications as being directly responsible for the rapid rise of the ‘Opioid Epidemic’ by virtue of their aggressive and, according to some, unlawful and unethical marketing practices,” according to the resolution.
“Basically, I think what they’re saying,” said Ron Riley, chair of the Board of Supervisors, “is that it’s become, obviously, a problem. It costs county-level governments and everyone a lot of money.”
By signing the resolution, the board believes it is taking a proactive step in addressing a problem that has not yet hit Union County.
“It isn’t that it’s not out there,” said Union County Attorney Tim Kenyon. “It’s that it really hasn’t worked its way to us yet. It’s going to be one of those things where we’re going to have to have some resources to deal with it.”
Costs incurred, such as attorney fees and such, for a class action lawsuit are generally paid only if the lawsuit is successful and usually comes out of any money rewarded as a result of the lawsuit.
“This is a way general comparison,” said Kenyon, “but like with the tobacco legislation and tobacco litigation, if you were a state that spent a million dollars in your efforts and you can show that you spent a million dollars to help people recover or deal with it or deal with the after effects, then when the class action suit was completed, everybody that had a loss put their name in and said, ‘We had a loss. Here’s what our loss was,’ and then they split out what’s recovered.
“It’s not a guarantee, but it’s one of those things where if we ask we may get it. If we don’t ask, we’re going to get zero,” he added.
With the signing of the resolution, Union County Board of Supervisors is essentially letting ISAC know they do support the process of litigation and believe that these pharmaceutical firms should be held financially responsible if they are found at fault.