Commission candidates urge county board to join lawsuit against opioid manufacturers

All six Democratic candidates for the Livingston County Board of Commissioners  signed a letter to the current county board, urging it to participate in multi-district litigation against pharmaceutical companies that manufacture opiates.

The letter, submitted to the board of commissioners Monday, was signed by Alex Hansen, candidate for District 5; Kasey Helton, candidate for District 6; Kristina Drake, candidate for District 8; Steve Savela, candidate for District 3; Jennifer Garcia, candidate for District 2; and Maureen Martin, candidate for District 4.

“This epidemic is tearing apart communities and families,” Hansen said. “We need the county commission to take strong action and lead in this fight to hold opiate manufactures accountable.”

The lawsuit seeks to recover damages from pharmaceutical companies for their alleged role in the opioid addiction epidemic. The litigants say opioid manufacturers grossly misrepresented the risks of long-term use of the drugs for patients with chronic pain, and that distributors failed to properly monitor suspicious, large volume orders of those prescription opioids.

Plaintiffs from nearly 200 municipalities from across the country are participating in the lawsuit. That list includes over 10 Michigan cities and counties to date, including Osceola and Kalamazoo counties, and the city of Lansing. The Michigan Association of Counties, a non-partisan advocacy group that provides legislative support for Michigan counties, also supports the litigation.

Data from the state’s drug monitoring system reported on MLive.com shows the rate of opioid prescriptions rose 35 percent in Livingston County between the years 2009-2015, and that there were 9,836 prescriptions for opioids written for every 10,000 people in the county. Livingston County also had among the highest death rates for opioids in the state between 2009-2015 at 219 people, or 7.2 people per every 100,000 county residents.

Helton said she plans to address the board regarding the letter during call to the public at the regularly scheduled board of commissioner meeting April 10 in hopes of gaining their support.

“As opioid abuse keeps rising, so will the costs to the county taxpayer,” Helton said. “The time to take action toward recouping those costs from the companies who recklessly contributed to this epidemic is now, and legal experts across the country have weighed in saying this is the best way to go about it.”

To read the letter, click here.

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The Livingston Post is the only locally owned, all-digital information and opinion site in Livingston County, Mich. It was launched by award-winning journalists who were laid off from the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus by Gannett Co. Inc. in 2009.