Agenda Item Name:
Title
Approval of settlement with Walgreens in the opioid litigation.
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Presenter:
Robert C. Swain, Deputy County Attorney
Description:
The State of Florida and its Office of the Attorney General and State Outside Litigation Counsel, in the lawsuit captioned State of Florida, Office of the Attorney General, Department of Legal Affairs v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al., Case #2018-CA-1438, Fla. Circuit Court, Pasco County, have reached a settlement with Walgreens. This settlement requires approval by the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners and delegation to the County Manager to sign the necessary documents.
The basic terms are $620 million to be spent on Opioid Remediation, to be paid in equal installments over 18 years with attorney fees and costs being paid out of a separate fund. The settlement funds must be used for the approved abatement strategies listed in Exhibit C of the Settlement Agreement and also incorporated within the Florida Opioids Allocation and Statewide Response Agreement. This settlement is recommended and is the first settlement with Walgreens in the country.
The estimated direct payment over time to Alachua County is $787,103.09. This is based on 100% participation which we anticipate will be met. Once the Qualified Settlement Fund is established, things will move very quickly. In anticipation of same, shortly after the PA is submitted, the case will be dismissed against Walgreens.
In order to ensure prompt and expedited payments, the Defendants are requiring participation by June 3. Attached please find the executed agreement and Participation Form required.
As a reminder, these settlements are pre-negotiated and we are not able to negotiate any additional payment. The formula was heavily negotiated at the beginning of this process.
This is the latest in a number of settlements. It is expected that there will be additional settlements forthcoming.
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
That the proposed settlement with Walgreens be approved by the BoCC, and the County Manager authorized to sign the necessary settlement documents. Since the months of June and July may present some timing issues between additional settlements being proposed and the timelines to execute the settlement documents, for those months, it is recommended that the County Manager be authorized to sign settlements which are proposed where, as in this settlement and the previous settlements, the amount is not negotiable by the County.
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Prior Board Motions:
See Agenda Item #21-0845 where the Board of County Commissioners moved to approve a Resolution authorizing Alachua County to join with the State of Florida and other local governmental units as a participant in the Florida Memorandum of Understanding and Formal Agreements implementing a Unified Plan regarding allocation of the opioid settlement proceeds. This agenda item was for matters that were in bankruptcy court. The current settlement is for matters outside of bankruptcy.
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
This settlement will yield funds which are limited to use for mitigation, prevention, and treatment of opioid abuse over a period of years. The estimated direct payment over time to Alachua County is $787,103.09. The time period is 18 years.
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Strategic Guide:
Strategic Guide
All Other Mandatory and Discretionary Services
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Background:
This is part of a national class action settlement with several of the manufacturers and distributors of opioid drugs.