Dale County OKs opioid suit settlement

A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies and Dale County is among the beneficiaries of that settlement.

At the Dale County Commission meeting Jan. 11, commissioners agreed to the settlement reached with Endo Health Solutions Inc. and Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.

In 2017 the state of Alabama, through the attorney general’s office, had filed the class action lawsuit against the pharmaceutical companies for their role in increasing opioid addiction and abuse nationwide, charging negligence and aggressive sales tactics.

The Dale County Commission voted to join the class action lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies at a Jan. 9, 2017 meeting after the issue was brought to the table one month earlier by Dale County Commission Attorney Henry Steagall.

At the work session Dec. 5, 2016, Steagall told commissioners that he had been contacted by law firms participating in a class action lawsuit against the nation’s drug distributors and recommended, should the commission vote to join the class action suit, that they work with the Montgomery-based Beasley Allen Law Firm.

Then-Dale County Commission Chairman Mark Blankenship, who is now the city of Ozark mayor, had objected to participation in the lawsuit at that time. “People have got to take some personal responsibility for their actions,” Blankenship said at the time the issue was first broached.

Dale County Commissioner Charles “Chic” Gary had disagreed with Blankenship at that time and made the motion to authorize Steagall to proceed with joining with legal action through the Beasley Allen law firm. Dale County Commissioner Frankie Wilson seconded the motion which subsequently passed.

“The pharmaceutical companies need to take a degree of responsibility for what they present to the Federal Drug Administration. (Pharmaceutical companies) are partially involved in this thing because what they are putting out there is a highly addictive prescription versus what we’ve had in the past,” was Gary’s statement at the 2017 meeting.

Steagall said his initial thought had been whether the opioid abuse issue had caused damage to Dale County. “But we do have to pay medical bills for the prisoners in jail,” he had said.

Dale County will receive $32,258 for participating in the Endo settlement. “Settlement funds must be used to prevent, treat and support recovery from opioid addiction and any other co-occurring substance use or mental health conditions which are all long-lasting (chronic) diseases that can cause major health, social and economic problems at the individual, family, community and/or state level,” according to the settlement agreement. “The opioid epidemic is ongoing, both in terms of research on the efficacy and efficiency of known strategies and in innovative programs at the federal, state and political subdivision levels.”

In other business, the commission voted to amend the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security—CARES—Act Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus funds designed to assist communities with addressing the impact and prevention of COVID 19. The commission amended the grant project to include the purchase of radios for the town of Midland City, instead of a van; construction of a decontamination room and equipment purchase, instead of a stretcher purchase for the town of Napier Field; and construction of a decontamination room, instead of equipment purchase for the town of Pinckard. The amount of funds allotted for each municipality will remain the same as in the original grant request. Any additional costs will be the responsibility of the respective municipalities.

The next meeting of the Dale County Commission is Jan. 25 in the Dale County Government Building. A work session begins at 10 a.m. and is followed immediately by a voting meeting. Both meetings are open to the public.