Eddy County considers joining national lawsuit against manufacturers and distributors of opioids

Eddy County commissioners will be making a decision within the next two weeks about whether the county will join a lawsuit against manufacturers and distributors of opioid medications. Twenty-five other North Dakota counties have already signed on to the litigation, with five others in still deciding.

Former state legislator Curtis Olafson of Edinburg met with commissioners, presenting the reasons that North Dakota counties and a few cities are joining the national lawsuit, which is being heard in federal court.

Olafson cited that a person who receives a 20-day prescription of opioids has a 30 percent chance of becoming addicted within a year. He said nationally there were 72,000 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2017.

According to information from the International Narcotics Control Board, the United States makes up 7% of the world's population, yet consumes 80% of the world's opioids.

"The drug manufacturers had convinced the medical community and the consumers that these drugs were safe and were not addictive," Olafson said. He also commented that the case sample they used to claim that the drugs were not addictive was in a group of terminally ill cancer patients. In addition, he said that executives of Purdue have already pleaded guilty for misleading the public about the drug's risk of addiction.

The real culpability and blame, according to Olafson, lies with the distributors. The chart he provided included McKesson, Amerisource Bergen and Cardinal Health as distributors of opioids who he says are required by federal law to report suspicious spikes and sales and they were not doing it. While he says that settlements have been made against some of the manufacturers and distributors, he cited an example of a settlement against Amerisource Bergen whose sales were $146.6 billion. Their settlement was $16 million

At this point, this litigation is not a class action lawsuit, each entity has their own individual case. However, there is the possibility that it could be turned into a class action lawsuit.

Olafson told commissioners that cities and counties are the entities that have the greatest degree of damages because they are the ones impacted through law enforcement and social services. He noted that the lawsuit targets manufacturers and ot pharmacists or medical providers.

"There is no Attorney General in the nation that has the resources or the staff with the experience and expertise to tackle this complex and massive a lawsuit," said Olafson. "It's just beyond the capability of any Attorney General in the country."

"Opioid lawsuits are on par to become the largest civil litigation agreement in U.S. history," he said. Projections are that this will bypass significantly the master tobacco settlement agreement, BP oil spill or Takata airbags.

Olafson urged the commission not to wait to get a share of any settlement made with the state because the county is likely to receive a much smaller share than would be received in an individual settlement through a class action lawsuit.

"Our consortium is best positioned to bring about the most favorable settlement for clients," he said. The Motley Rice, Ferrer Poirot Wansbrough & Fears Machawati consortium includes firms based in Texas and North Carolina.

There is no work burden or cost upfront should Eddy County commissioners sign onto the lawsuit, and the county is indemnified through the law firms against liability from any potential counter lawsuit. If there is no settlement, the firms absorb all of the costs, not the counties or cities.

The settlement covers costs and attorney fees. The attorney fee declines as the amount of the award increases but would not exceed 25% on a $2 million award. The percentage begins declining at that point and can go as low as 5% on a $10 million award. The commissioners will make a decision and contact Olafson within the next two weeks.

Eddy County Roads

Todd Weber, Eddy County Road Superintendent, reported that they will be going to pick up the new skid steer this week. They are also still finishing up with the new gravel on the roads. They will be mowing later on in the week.

The commissioners told Weber about the North Central Region Local Roads Conference in Rapid City that will be held in October and the North Dakota Department of Transportation meeting that is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 7, although Weber may wait until next year to attend either of them.

Busy Beaver

Travis Peterson, Kenny Reis, Peter Larson and Mike Tweed, representing the Eddy County Water Board, requested an addition to the agenda to address a nuisance beaver problem by Warwick Dam. The beaver has built two dams, one on the right of way that the county will be responsible for taking care of, and one on the north side of the dam on the west side of the road. The culvert is plugged, and it will take a piece of equipment with long reach in order to clean them out. They discussed which companies had appropriate equipment. There is currently a beaver hut about as big as a Volkswagon, and the beaver are accumulating more materials.

Further discussion included to eliminate the beaver so that the dams are not rebuilt once they are removed. They will also contact Todd Weber to have him go look at the dam.

Commissioners also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with North Dakota Game & Fish for Warsing Dam regarding the portable fishing dock, stating that the county is responsible to make sure that the dock is removed prior to freeze-up.

Quiet Title, Forfeiture and Debt Collections

Eddy County State's Attorney, Ashley Lies, reported on the Quiet Title Action for the former Mill Pump and Cheers building, saying that nothing has changed and that it is still scheduled for Sept. 12. She has been working with Patty Williams, Eddy County Auditor and Patty Hilbert, Eddy County Clerk of Court to prepare documents and questions for that day.

The commissioners asked Lies to explain the County Asset Forfeiture Fund and Procedure. Lies said it was a procedure that was covered at their last State's Attorney meeting and that the state was requiring that the county establish a separate account for any funds that are acquired through forfeiture. They would also be required to have a board comprised of the State's Attorney, Sheriff and County Auditor to decide if any other entity has a right to that seized asset and to create procedural forms.

Lies also informed the commission that the county is now able to hire debt collectors to collect court fees and fines. If two years have passed since the judgment and the fine still has not been paid, the county is able to turn the file over to a debt collection service.

Eddy County Preliminary Budget

The largest increase in the budget this year is approved to previously approved wage increases for staff. Other notable increases include the E911 program, the 10 mills that taxpayers approved for the ambulance service and the 2020 election costs. The Social Service budget will also see an increase as the county is responsible for certain indirect costs not covered by the state.

Other Items

The commissioners also discussed options that could be covered by the Court Facilities Improvement Grant. The deadline for that grant is Dec. 31. Commissioner Glenda Collier will get an estimate for the outdoor steps and they will discuss the grant again at a later meeting.

Eddy County is seeking a Selective Service board member for Eddy County. They will discuss this further with Eddy County Veteran's Service Officer Kathy Steinbach.

Commissioners also discussed public comments and questions they received regarding the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation Criminal Jurisdiction Retrocession Act, or S. 2159.

As previously covered by the "New Rockford Transcript," S. 2159 repeals a termination-era law that subjects American Indians on the Spirit Lake Nation to prosecution by the state of North Dakota for certain crimes. 60 Stat. 229 was approved on May 31, 1946.

Senator John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer introduced S. 2159 to the United States Senate Committee on American Indian Affairs on July 18. On July 24, the committee recommended S. 2159 to the House and Senate as a whole for consideration. As of press time on Thursday, no hearing time had been determined.

Local concerns regarding this change in jurisdiction have been both numerous and varied and include:  

• How will the repeal of 60 Stat. 229 affect non-natives living on the reservation?

• Is the Spirit Lake Tribal Court system equipped to handle the increased caseload?

• What can local and tribal governments do to ensure all area residents have access to law enforcement and protection?

Commissioners urge citizens to voice these concerns to U.S. Senators Hoeven and Cramer and Representative Armstrong, as this bill has already been introduced to Congress and is far out of the reach of commissioners' hands. In the meantime, the "Transcript" will be working to find answers to these and other questions.

The next meeting of the Eddy County Commission will be Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 8:30 a.m., with the Preliminary Budget Meeting will be held at 9 a.m.