ASHLAND — Ashland City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday on a resolution to begin litigation against contributers to the opioid addiction epidemic.
The resolution declares that opiate abuse, addiction, morbidity and mortality is a serious public health crisis and a public nuisance in Ashland. Through the resolution, the council also approved the retention of a number of law firms to represent the city in its lawsuit.
“In essence, it’s a simple lawsuit,” said Luke Feeney, an attorney with the Waverly-based firm Seif & McNamee. “We are alleging the opioid manufacturers and distibutors have created, or helped to create, a public nuisance… You would allege, and we would prove, that a public nuisance was created and we would seek a fund to help abate that public nuisance.”
The abatement fund created with any damages from the claim would go into the city’s general fund and could be used for things like healthcare or education, Feeney said.
Feeney explained to the council that his firm will be Ashland’s local representatives in multi-district litigation involving many plaintiffs and several law firms that are part of a national consortium.
Defendants in the cases the firms have already initiated often include companies such as McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, Purdue Pharma, Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson), Endo International, Teva Pharmaceutical, Allergan (formerly Actavis), Watson Pharmaceuticals and Covidien, according to the website of the lead law firm for the multidistrict litigation, Greene, Ketchum, Farrell, Bailey & Tweel.
Unlike plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit, Feeney said, the counties and cities involved in this multi-district litigation will be individually represented. While one judge is given the authority to manage all the cases, each case would be tried separately and the damages sought would be unique to each case.
Feeney said his firm alone is representing 28 counties and two cities in Ohio, and other firms have taken on cases from several other states. Ashland County entered into an agreement to be represented by Feeney’s firm last November.
The city has agreed to pay the law firms 25 percent of any damages recovered through the lawsuit. The attorneys will not charge the city unless it receives damages or a settlement.
The cases are being handled in Cleveland by U.S. District Judge Dan Polster of the Northern District Court of Ohio. Feeney said his firm is pleased that the cases are being tried in Ohio, which he called the epicenter of the opioid issue, as well as by a judge who seems motivated to move quickly and aggressively.
In other business Tuesday, council members approved the purchase of two K9s for the police department at a total cost of $31,000. One of those dogs will be paid for by an anonymous private donation, Mayor Matt Miller said.
Police Chief David Marcelli said one of the dogs will replace a dog that is retiring while the other will be an addition to the police force. The dogs and their handlers will be scheduled on opposite shifts so the department will have a dog available every day.
In addition to the $31,000, which includes training for the officers who will handle the dogs, there will be a cost of about $6,000 to modify a police vehicle for one of the new dogs, Marcelli said. There will also be costs associated with creating a kenel at each of the two dog handlers’ homes.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting Miller announced the sale of 357 acres of city land north of the city will be conducted November 17 by Brock Rader and Andy White of RES Auction Services.
At the city’s next council meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 16, Mull & Weithman Architects will present the results of a feasibility study regarding a proposed second fire station in the city.
