Butler County jurisdictions joining state opioid lawsuit: What that means for them

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Butler County and several other communities have joined the statewide One Ohio opioid lawsuit against the pharmaceutical industry, hoping to share in what some believe could be a $1 billion settlement.

Gov. Mike DeWine and Attorney General Dave Yost are urging local governments to form a united front, dubbed One Ohio, for negotiating a massive settlement with the pharmaceutical industry over its role in the opioid crisis that has devastated the state.

A Friday deadline was set for local jurisdictions already engaged in the national class action lawsuit, to sign the memorandum of understanding with the state.

“Every day that passes is one more day that companies can settle with someone ahead of Ohio. Our risk goes up as we get closer to New York’s trial date of March 20,” Yost said in a release. “Now is the time for Ohio to come together and do what’s right for our citizens. One Ohio is the best choice for all Ohioans.”

The county, Fairfield, Hamilton and Middletown all filed their own lawsuits in federal court and are part of the massive class action, along with about 2,600 other jurisdictions. Those communities were asked to sign the MOU, the commissioners and Middletown signed, Fairfield and Hamilton will consider it next week. Under One Ohio, every jurisdiction in the state would receive funds if a settlement is reached.

Hamilton’s Director of Law Letitia Block said they city won’t be penalized for missing the deadline.

“The state is aware of the city’s meeting schedule and intent to take formal action next week, and has confirmed that this is acceptable,” she said.

Joining the state lawsuit doesn’t impact the jurisdictions participation in the federal class action.

RELATED: Butler County could get a whopping $47.5M to battle opioids. How will it be used?

“We don’t have to stop our pursuit through the federal suit,” Commissioner T.C. Rogers said, adding there are elements of the MOU the county disagrees with but “we are poised for getting a quicker more positive result with this.”

Under the statewide MOU, signed by two of the three commissioners on Monday, 11% would be taken off the top for attorney fees and the remaining cash would be divvied up — 30% for local governments, 55% to a new foundation and 15% to the attorney general’s office.

The foundation would be controlled by a 25-member board appointed by state, legislative and local officials. It would spend settlement money to address the opioid epidemic both locally and statewide.

Commissioner Cindy Carpenter said she signed the MOU — Commissioner Don Dixon was not at the meeting so her vote was necessary — grudgingly because “I don’t like it, from top to bottom.”

“I signed it because it was presented to me, very fearfully, that if we don’t sign it we may lose everything. So I didn’t want to be the person that makes us lose everything,” she said, adding she was told larger, statewide lawsuits stand a better chance of settling first, before the drug companies go bankrupt.

The foundation that would get the largest share of dollars she said would just be creating another bureaucratic, political, state agency and the way the agreement is proposed she doesn’t feel local counties will be treated fairly.

Acting Middletown City Manager Susan Cohen said there is no downside to joining One Ohio.

“The general thought is that this will give us the best amount of leverage to negotiate the best settlement possible for the city,” Cohen said.

A couple weeks ago the state released a hypothetical distribution of funds if the state can reach a $1 billion settlement in the One Ohio effort. It showed the county as a whole might collect $47.5 million, with the county receiving the largest share at $24.4 million. Another allocation scenario, that was listed on the website for the national class action, gave the county only $934,626 and lesser amounts for the other jurisdictions. The county’s outside counsel handling the federal case gave the commissioners a range of $8 to $11 million for just the county.

“These are all hypothetical numbers from the plaintiffs’ attorneys designed to help illustrate potential percentages local governments could receive. The factors of the framework of how distributions could be determined are similar but they are not apples to apples,” Yost’s Communications Director Bethany McCorkle told the Journal-News. “What Ohio could receive as part of a national settlement is in no way the same to what Ohio could receive as part of the One Ohio plan.”

Some people locally are questioning the state’s figures. The distribution breakdown shows the county government could get the largest share at $24.4 million, and Jacksonburg would receive the smallest with $2,610. The now-defunct village of Somerville was also on the list with $1,469. The largest cities, Hamilton and Middletown, where the epidemic has been most devastating, would receive $6.1 million and $5.2 million respectively.

St. Clair Twp. Trustee John Snyder wants to know why his community was pencilled in for $4,995 and New Miami’s hypothetical share is $21,888.

“Every township is getting more than us and even the village of New Miami is getting considerably more than us,” Snyder said. “I mean if you are talking about a medical situation or whatever we run the life squad for them. It’s just puzzling.”

The Journal-News asked several state agencies how the distribution was calculated but no definitive answers were given.

Chief Assistant County Prosecutor Dan Ferguson cautioned that the figures are fluid because there isn’t a settlement yet.

“At this point in time, in my estimation, guessing the amount of money that’s going to come into your coffers is an exercise futility,” Ferguson said. “Focus on the process and not the potential size of the reward at this time. This is litigation.”

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