MARQUETTE — The Marquette County Board of Commissioners, at their Tuesday meeting, voted to adopt two resolutions relative to settlement of opioid-related lawsuits.

Marquette County was one of many public governments nationwide which filed two lawsuits to address the nationwide public Opioid Epidemic. The first one named Purdue Pharma L.P., the company that makes oxytocin, and several members of the Sackler family, who own the company, as defendants in the lawsuit.

The Purdue/Sackler settlement that came out of agreements between the Sackler Family Defendants, the State Attorneys General and a Plaintiff Executive Committee that represents approximately 4,000 local governments that have brought forth lawsuits similar to Marquette County’s. The settlement provides monetary relief and an agreement that the Sackler Family Defendants will pay $6.5 billion over the next 15 years in exchange for a release of the claims made against them and says that the Purdue estate will contribute an amount of approximately $900 million. The bulk of the payments are dedicated to funding abatement and prevention strategies associated with the opioids public nuisance. Marquette County has entered into an allocation method which allocates settlement funds on a 50/50 basis between participating local governments who have elected to participate in the Purdue/Sackler settlement and the State of Michigan.

The resolutions adopted by the board on Tuesday night include authorization of the execution of a Participation Agreement for the Purdue/Sackler Settlement, and a new Michigan State-Subdivision Agreement for Allocation of Opioid Settlement Agreements. They also authorized the Weitz & Luxembourg law firm to vote on the county’s behalf in favor of the Bankruptcy Plan for Purdue.

The second lawsuit is similar to the first, brought against eight pharmaceutical companies – Alvogen Inc., Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Apotex Inc., Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Indivior Inc., Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc. and Zydus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – have also resulted in proposed settlements with the State Attorneys General and the Plaintiff Executive Committee. The following monetary compensation agreements and timelines are the settlements:

• $18,680,162 in a single year by Alvogen Inc.

• $71,751,010 over ten years by Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

• $63,682,369 in a single year by Apotex Inc.

• $95,818,293 over one to four years by Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.

• $38,022,450 over four years by Indivior Inc.

• $284,447,916 over nine years by Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc.

• (g) $30,992,087 over one to four years by Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc.

• $14,859,220 in a single year by Zydus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Similar to the Purdue/Sackler Settlement, the bulk of the payments will be dedicated to funding abatement and prevention strategies associated with the opioids epidemic.

“In addition to these abatement payments, several of the settlements allow states to receive free pharmaceutical products or cash in lieu of this product,” reads the resolution authorization. “Additionally, seven of the companies (not including Indivior) are prohibited from promoting or marketing opioids and opioid products, making or selling any product that contains more than 40 mg of oxycodone per pill, and are required to put in place a monitoring and reporting system for suspicious orders.” Indivior has also agreed to not manufacture or sell opioid products for the next 10 years, but it will be able to continue marketing and selling medications to treat opioid use disorder. The allocation method for the monies is the same as the one used in the Purdue/Sackler settlement.

On Tuesday, the Board of Commissioners voted to adopt the resolution that Marquette County authorizes the execution of Participation Agreements for the Master Settlement Agreements with the eight pharmaceutical companies, and for the county to authorize the execution of a new Michigan State-Subdivision Agreement for Allocation of Opioid Settlement Agreements, like in the Purdue/Sackler settlement.

Marquette County previously executed Participation Agreements for the national Distributor and Janssen Settlements, as well as the national Teva, Allergan, CVS, Walmart, and Walgreens Settlements.

“A long time ago, Marquette County opted into a class-action on these opioid lawsuits, and every now and then we get updates from the council that’s handling these suits and the settlements and the disbursement of funds,” explained City Attorney Karl Numinen during the meeting. “From time to time, we’re asked to adopt another resolution accepting additional settlement funds, and I’m recommending that the board adopt these two resolutions in 10D and 10E to accept additional settlement funds on the opioid settlement lawsuits.”

The full settlements can be accessed online at nationalopioidsettlement.com. The resolution authorizations can also be read online in the Aug. 19 board meeting packet.

Marquette County Board of Commissioners meetings are held biweekly at 6 p.m. Tuesdays. They take place in Room 231 of the Henry A. Skewis Courthouse Annex unless specified otherwise, which is located at 234 W. Baraga Ave. The next meeting is scheduled to take place on Sept. 2.

Full recordings of the meetings along with agenda packets and additional information can be found online at co.marquette.mi.us/county_government/board_of_commissioners/index.php.

Abby LaForest can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 548. Her email address is alaforest@miningjournal.net.