Title
Approval of a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute All Documents Necessary for the City of Olympia to Participate in a National Opioid Settlement with Certain Opioid Manufacturers and Pharmacies
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Move to approve the Resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute all documents necessary for the City of Olympia to participate in a National Opioid Settlement with certain opioid manufacturers and pharmacies which will result in release of any claims belonging to the City of Olympia against the settling opioid manufacturers and pharmacies.
Report
Issue:
Whether to approve the Resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute all documents necessary for the City of Olympia to participate in a National Opioid Settlement with certain opioid manufacturers and pharmacies which will result in release of any claims belonging to the City of Olympia against the settling opioid manufacturers and pharmacies.
Staff Contact:
Mark Barber, City Attorney, 360.753.8223
Presenter(s):
None - Consent Calendar Item.
Background and Analysis:
The City of Olympia has joined in federal multi-district court litigation to sue parties responsible for overdose deaths and harms resulting from use of opioids by residents of Olympia. The City of Olympia brought a federal lawsuit against a variety of opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies, including Allergan, CVS, Teva, Walgreens, and Walmart, among others, to recover monetary damages sustained by Olympia residents as a result of the reckless and negligent behavior of the manufacturers and pharmacies who profited from the opioid crisis at the expense of Olympia residents. Olympia’s complaint was consolidated and transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, Case No. 1:17-md-02804-DAP.
Olympia’s attorneys in the federal court multi-district litigation, Keller Rohrback, LLP, and the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, have negotiated a proposed settlement resolution with certain manufacturers and pharmacies: Allergan, CVS, Teva, Walgreens, and Walmart, that will result in these five companies paying approximately $434 million over 15 years as compensation for harms to Washington residents, if all conditions of the proposal are met. The proposed opioid manufacturers and pharmacies settlement will only be finalized after litigating Washington local governments, agree to the settlement proposal by executing and returning Participation Forms before the deadline of April 18, 2023, for local government approval.
The attorneys for Olympia, Keller Rohrback, LLP, and the Washington State Attorney General’s Office strongly urge approval by local governments to the national settlement proposal. While recognizing no settlement is perfect, this settlement will result in Washington state receiving approximately $434 million over 15 years. If the requisite participation by Washington local governments does not occur, the state of Washington will not receive the $434 million to help Washington combat the opioid epidemic. However, if approved, these financial resources will start flowing into Washington’s communities, including the City of Olympia, to abate the opioid crisis that continues to devastate families across Washington state. One-half of the $434 million - $217 million - if each eligible city and county joins the settlement, will be distributed pursuant to the Allocation Agreement II to Washington cities and counties.
On March 22, 2022, the City of Olympia entered into a One Washington Memorandum of Understanding Between Washington Municipalities as a “Participating Local Government” and a “Litigating Local Government” in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, Case No. 1:17-md-02804-DAP to address a variety of issues including distribution of opioid funds, allocation, and abatement use. The City of Olympia qualifies as a “Litigating Local Government” as having filed suit against any Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Participant pertaining to the opioid epidemic prior to September 1, 2020. The national settlement with the aforesaid opioid manufacturers and pharmacies will require that the City Manager be authorized to execute all settlement documents on behalf of the City of Olympia, including an Allocation Agreement II, and Participation Forms.
Approval and execution of settlement documents including Participation Forms and an Allocation Agreement II are necessary to complete the terms of the proposed national settlement with the five opioid manufacturers and pharmacies. The settlement may be finalized, which will include the City of Olympia, with all plaintiffs releasing any and all of their claims against the five settling opioid manufacturers and pharmacies.
Climate Analysis:
The decision whether to participate in the national settlement with five opioid manufacturers and pharmacies will not impact efforts at climate mitigation.
Equity Analysis:
Equity will be served by holding culpable opioid manufacturers and pharmacies responsible for their reckless and negligent behavior in profiting from careless opioid use and consumption by unknowing Olympia residents who suffered addiction, death, and other harms, including to their families.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
None known.
Financial Impact:
Over a period of 15 years, the City of Olympia would receive approximately $1.3 million for opioid abatement, minus contractual attorneys’ fees.
Options:
1. Approve the Resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute all documents necessary for the City of Olympia to participate in the national opioid settlement with certain opioid manufacturers and pharmacies such as Allergan, CVS, Teva, Walgreens, and Walmart, and releasing any claims by the City of Olympia against said opioid manufacturers and pharmacies.
2. Do not approve the Resolution giving authorization to the City Manager to execute all documents necessary to participate in the national opioid settlement with five opioid manufacturers and pharmacies. If the Resolution is not approved, the City of Olympia, as a litigating local government, would not be able to receive any settlement funds to use toward abatement of the opioid epidemic.
Attachments:
Resolution
Allocation Agreement II with Participation Forms