Subject:
Title
Partial Settlement of National Prescription Opiate Litigation
End
Fiscal Impact:
$300,000 in settlement proceeds ($345,000 lump sum settlement less $45,000 attorney's fees)
Dept/Office:
County Attorney's Office
Requested Action:
Recommendation
Approve Brevard County's outside counsel's recommendation to settle with Publix in the pending multi-district opioid litigation; authorize the Chair and County Attorney to sign a settlement agreement, release, and related documents as necessary.
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Summary Explanation and Background:
Brevard County is a plaintiff in In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, Case No. 17-md-2804, which is the multi-district litigation against the opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in the District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Brevard has thus far resolved claims against a wide array of opioid defendants and secured significant funds as a result. As part of the ongoing litigation, another defendant now seeks to resolve the County's potential claims against it.
On July 7, 2024, the Board authorized adding three categories of additional defendants in the opioid distribution supply chain to our case: pharmacy benefit managers (including Express Scripts and Optum); retail pharmacies (including Publix); and several small opioid manufacturers. In August 2024, Brevard County, along with a number of other plaintiffs, asserted motions for leave to amend its existing complaint filed in federal court and coordinated as part of the multidistrict litigation pending in Ohio federal court, to add Publix and two prescription benefit managers.
While those motions are still pending, the Court has recently indicated that, because only a handful of cases remain pending against Publix, it plans to remand any remaining claims against that defendant to a Florida court for trial if the claims are not resolved in the next 60 days. Publix has offered to resolve the County's potential claims against it for $345,00...
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