Lafayette Supervisors Vote to Join National Opioid Lawsuit

By Alyssa Schnugg
Staff Writer
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com
 
Lafayette County will join dozens of counties in Mississippi and across the United States in a class action lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies and drug marketers for allegedly underreporting the addictive qualities in opioid pain relievers.
On Monday, the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors voted to allow New Albany attorney Chandler Rogers to file the suit on the county’s behalf in the U.S. Federal Court in Oxford.
County Attorney David O’Donnell told the board that local governments across the country are filing lawsuits that will be combined into a large class action suit being handled in Cleveland, Ohio.
“They are suing the drug companies that have engaged in manufacturing and marketing certain opioid drugs that have been allegedly marketed and sold while under-reporting the addictive qualities of the drug,” O’Donnell said.
The reason for the lawsuit is the theory that local governments have incurred costs as the results of people becoming addicted to the drugs.
“Treating prisoners at the jail who are addicted to opioids and have withdrawal symptoms, or have to maintain prescriptions …,” O’Donnell said. “That would be the primary costs for this county.”
O’Donnell said other potential expenses for Lafayette County could be costs associated with Drug Court, Communicare’s services, and the county’s process of picking up someone suffering from substance abuse involuntarily for treatment.
“The purpose of the suit is to recoup those costs, either in terms of real dollars or in terms of developing education or treatment programs,” O’Donnell said.
O’Donnell said there would be no cost to the county to join in the lawsuit.