By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
A decision whether or not to retain lawyers to represent Juab County in an opioid lawsuit was tabled so that the county attorney can contact the other counties in the Central Utah Public Health Department region. Colin King, trial lawyer with Dewsnup King Olsen Worel Havas Mortensen, and Matt McCune, trial lawyer with Magleby Cataxinos & Greenwood, both attended Juab County Commission meeting to discuss representing the county in a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers. “I would make a motion that we table the retainer agreement until Ryan Peters, the county attorney, has had a conversation with the other attorneys (in the Cental Utah Health District),” said Rick Carlton, commissioner. The health department is part of the six county area and those counties should be invited to partner with Juab County in joining in a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, agreed commissioners Byron Woodland and Carlton. Woodland was the commission chairman pro tempore in the absence of Clinton Painter who was out of town. “As you recall, I was here in April,” said King. He said that Summit County, the first in the state to enter into a lawsuit, had just done that when he was first met with the commission. Now an attorney team had been formed and had added 10 clients in Utah and two in Idaho. He and McCune were part of that attorney team, he said. “There are three other firms who are working on the lawsuits in the state,” said King. “One of the attorneys working with us is the lead lawyer in the MDL (multidistrict litigation).” Hundreds of opioid lawsuits have been filed by states, cities, counties, Native American tribes and labor unions across the nation. “The defenders (opioid drugmakers) wanted the suits heard in federal court,” said McCune. “We got the Utah cases moved right back into state court. We wanted the cases to stay in state court.” He said that, should the county retain them, the New York team they are affiliated with is already gathering information. That information would be shared among all and would be paid for on a shared basis. “We have a low fee,” he said. “Our fee is 20 percent of the settlement.” The lawsuits were not yet a class action suit. “Filing in state court gives the clients options,?ì said King. “We can work and set up discovery points.” Carlton said he wanted to understand what the law firms were actually charging the county. He asked if the fees being charged for such things as witnesses were coming out before the attorneys took the 20 percent of the settlement. “The costs come out first,” said McCune. “Say the settlement was $1 million. We would pay the costs which would leave approximately $900,000. Then we would take out our 20 percent and that would leave $700,000 for the county.” “This represents an extraordinary cost savings to you,” said King. “All those costs will be divided.” Carlton said he would, if the county retained the attorneys, like to have a monthly accounting of costs rather than the usual quarterly reports. “It is a reasonable thing to request,” said King. “Whether or not accounting has the mechanism to do that, we will need to find out.” McCune said that if the county decided to take the lead, the attorneys could then contact the other counties of the health district. “We can contact them quickly if you want to take the lead,” said King. Opioids are the most-prescribed class of drugs: more than blood pressure, cholesterol or anxiety medications. In 2012, the peak of the prescription boom, doctors wrote 255 million prescriptions for opioid painkillers. While the drugs have legitimate use in relieving pain from acute injuries and chronic conditions, their potential for addiction and misuse is high. These claims are filed in the hopes of offsetting the massive costs of handling the epidemic, which are estimated at over $55 billion across the nation per year. “Per capital, we all bear the costs of the epidemic,” said McCune. He said that citizens who were drug-free also had to pay increased costs of providing health care, emergency services, attorney and court costs. “There is also a social expenditure,” said Carlton. Whether through a jury verdict or a settlement, those suing would use the damages to cover: Increased expenses of drug treatment programs, including building of new treatment centers; Reimbursing hospitals, Medicaid and other agencies; Increases in the need for ambulances and EMTs; Costs of the increased need for law enforcement; and Costs of prosecutions and jail time. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 46 people died every day from overdoses involving prescription opioids in 2016. King said that the state medical examiner said that the costs for the required autopsies were paid by the medical examiner’s budget. The counties were not paying that cost. Most of the cases are in federal court, and those have been joined together for preliminary proceedings in what lawyers call a multidistrict litigation, or MDL. In an effort to make the litigation move quicker, U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland is overseeing the MDL cases and making initial rulings that apply to them all. He has scheduled a trial for three of the cases next year while also pressing for a settlement. “The MDL cases are a bellwether,” said McCune. “They will show us how the suits will be settled or will show the general future of the cases.” Perhaps the drug makers, when they see the lay of the land, will do as the big tobacco companies did. “If all the others decline to participate,” he said, “it would still make sense for you to file.”
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