There is little in the way of denying that the crisis of addiction and death surrounding the abuse of opioid drugs and painkillers has reached an epidemic level throughout the United States. At the Tuesday, Dec. 19, meeting of the Wright County Board of Commissioners, County Attorney Tom Kelly and Assistant County Attorney Brian Asleson urged the board to do its part to fight back.
Both urged the board to join a nationwide civil litigation against opioid manufacturers and distributors looking to stop the abuses of the law that they have taken in making it easy (and profitable) to dispense opioid prescriptions.
In September, a pair of law firms approached Wright County about joining in the lawsuit. Initially, the county attorney’s office was hesitant to join in, but the more information that was presented changed their minds.
"As we’ve gone through the process, I think Tom and I both started with a certain amount of skepticism and a lot of questions. But, the more we’ve heard, the more we believe this is a worthwhile effort," Asleson said.
"Some of the stated goals of the litigation are to make things better going forward. It’s necessarily all about recovering dollars, but trying to make for a better distribution system going forward and minimize the problem that is out there."
There is no significant cost for the county, because the lawyers in charge of the suit are taking on the case on a contingency basis – no up-front costs to the county and a percentage of the potential award if the lawsuit is victorious. The only cost to the county would be staff time collecting data to be used in the lawsuit.
Unlike a class action suit that clumps litigants from throughout the country under one umbrella, the lawsuits being filed are on behalf of individual counties.
Kelly said the goal isn’t to make a lot of money in a jury award, but rather to clean up a system that has run amok. The numbers are staggering and the lawsuits are gaining national attention for the significant change they could generate if Big Pharma has to answer to their practices in court.
"I don’t make this stuff up, it’s happening nationwide," Kelly said. "It is all over the place. The money that they’re talking about, the abuse that is taking place with the Controlled Substances Act, the fraudulent marketing and straw doctors out there that are telling people that opioids aren’t just for the last portion of life and are not addictive.
"There have been some wrongs that have been committed by some people that are making billions of dollars at a cost to us. I think it is a worthy cause to explore when it’s on this type of contingency basis. I don’t see any downside."
Board Chairman Charlie Borrell, who missed the Dec. 19 meeting following a surgical procedure, wanted to be part of the vote, so he asked that the matter be tabled until after the first of the year. The board voted unanimously to bring the item back to the Jan. 2 agenda.
Other matters
In other items on the agenda, the board:
■ Received an update concerning a lawsuit that includes Wright County brought by gubernatorial candidate and State Auditor Rebecca Otto. The auditor named Wright County as plaintiffs in a case disputing her authority as state auditor.
In 2015, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law that allowed counties to retain private firms, which several counties have used. The lawsuit singled out three counties – Wright, Becker and Ramsey. To date, Wright County has spent more than $80,000 to fight an argument between the auditor’s office and the State Legislature.
■ By a 3-1 vote, adopted a resolution approving the findings and order correcting drainage system records for County Ditch 38.
A resident attempted to speak, but Assistant County Attorney Greg Kryzer told the board that the public hearings were done and that, if the board allowed the resident to speak at the meeting, it would be a due process violation, adding that the county has received the threat of litigation on the matter.
The board decided that the matter had been properly vetted and approved the finding on the advice of the county attorney’s office. Commissioner Mark Daleiden voted against it based upon not letting the resident speak to the matter.
■ Referred to the personnel committee discussion of staffing in the county extension department.
■ Announced the county and Teamsters Local 320 (the sheriff’s essential supervisory unit) had reached a labor agreement that will run through the end of 2019.
■ Renewed the contracts of county ag inspector Erick Heuring and county drainage inspector Mike Young for 2018.
■ Approved retaining property appraiser Kevin Casserly to perform three appraisals on behalf of the county for pending disputes scheduled to be heard in tax court. The properties are part of the industrial park in Maple Lake.
■ Modified the joint powers agreement between the county and the Wright Soil and Water Conservation District to include that two commissioners will be added to the SWCD board of supervisors when appeals are heard.
■ Adopted a resolution establishing an absentee ballot board for the current election cycle, which will run through Dec. 31, 2019.
■ Opted to meet on Dec. 26 for a regularly scheduled board meeting. Historically, the last meeting of the year has been held only to pay claims, but the county now pays claims electronically, no longer requiring approval at a board meeting. But, some time-sensitive items were petitioned at the agenda so, although it will be short, the meeting will be held.
■ Approved the 2018 salary ranges for non-union employees.
■ Retained the mileage reimbursement at 50 cents a mile, 3.5 cents less than the IRS-approved rate of the 53½ cents.
■ The meeting was held with four commissioners. With Borrell absent, Daleiden presided over the meeting.
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