TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: Peter D. Lear, CPA, CGMA, City Manager
TITLE: Discussion and Possible Action Regarding the City's Potential Participation in the Negotiation Class for the National Opioid Litigation, In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL No. 2804 (N.D. Ohio)
Recommended Action
Discussion and possible action regarding the City's potential participation in the Negotiation Class for the national opioid litigation, In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL No. 2804 (N.D. Ohio).
Background Information
Background of Litigation
Approximately 2,500 counties and cities across the United States have filed suit against manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of prescription opiate drugs seeking reimbursement for monies spent addressing the opioid crisis. All federal actions have been centralized into one case in Ohio, In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL No. 2804 (N.D. Ohio).
Creation of Negotiation Class
The court has certified a Negotiation Class ("Class") solely for the purpose of reaching a settlement. The Class includes all counties and cities in the United States, whether they have filed a lawsuit or not. The Class does not include state governments. As of the date of this staff summary, the Class includes 34,458 entities.
Causes of Action
In this Class, the Court certified two federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO") claims and two federal Controlled Substances Act ("CSA") issues, finding that these claims are similar across the country and the Class.
These claims are asserted against 13 defendants: Pharmaceutical companies Purdue, Cephalon, Endo, Mallinckrodt, Actavis, Janssen, McKesson; and pharmacies Cardinal, Amerisource Bergen, CVS Rx Services, Inc., Rite-Aid Corporation, Walgreens, and Wal-Mart.
1. RICO -
The first RICO claim alleges that five defendants misled physicians and the public about the need for and addictiveness of prescr...
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