PORT ANGELES — Clallam County will join more than 200 other litigants in suing opioid makers and wholesale distributors in federal district court for damages from flooding the market with prescription opioids.
County commissioners, who meet today at 10 a.m. at the county courthouse, will hire Keller Rohrback LLC, a Seattle-based nationwide law firm, on a contingency basis to file the lawsuit on behalf of Clallam County in federal district court in Cleveland, commissioners’ Chairman Mark Ozias said Monday following a board work session at which the litigation was discussed.
Commissioners will be acting on the recommendation of the county Board of Health.
“The pharmaceutical companies knew exactly what they were doing, exactly the harm they were creating and chose to cover it up,” county Health Officer Dr. Christopher Frank said Monday.
The Board of Health last week recommended that the county pursue legal action against manufacturers including Purdue Pharma, drug distributors and “pill mills” where addictive prescription pain-killers are dispensed under loose parameters.
“I’m appreciative of the conversation the Board of Health had,” Ozias said at the work session, noting the “strong recommendation” indicated by the health panel’s unanimous vote.
“It makes sense,” Commissioner Randy Johnson said of the lawsuit.
It will not be part of a class-action lawsuit, but instead a separate filing among more than 200 lawsuits that have already been filed, said David Alvarez, chief civil deputy prosecuting attorney.
Alvarez said Clallam County’s primary cost will be staff time to compile county-specific information on the impact of the opioid crisis on the county for the lawsuit, which he said may be filed by March 31.
Keller Rohrback would receive payment for the lawsuit if Clallam County is awarded damages under a settlement or guilty verdict.
“I don’t think they would have approached Clallam County if they thought there was not a good chance for some compensation for the harm that has been done to Clallam County by the pharmaceutical manufacturers,” Frank said.
Alvarez said Clallam County is an appropriate litigant for the case.
Clallam has an age-adjusted rate of opioid-related overdose deaths higher than any county in Washington from 2012-2016, according to the state Department of Health.
The rate in Clallam is 16.5 opioid-related deaths per 100,000, followed by Mason County with 14.7 deaths per 100,000 and Cowlitz County with 13.6 per 100,000.
Jefferson County, with a rate of 10.3 opioid-related deaths per 100,000, has the 10th highest rate among the state’s 39 counties.
To prepare for the litigation, a department supervisor will be asked fill out a seven-question “Opioid Litigation Department Survey” that asks “how the opioid epidemic (including both prescription opioids and heroin) has affected your department, and what your department has done to deal [with] the opioid and heroin epidemic.”
The questionnaire also asks about costs the department has incurred from dealing with the opioid epidemic.
“This information will allow us to (1) draft a compelling narrative in our complaint about the consequences of the epidemic to Clallam County, and (2) provide an overview in or complaint of the damages Clallam County has suffered as a result of the epidemic.”
The respondents will be urged “to cast a wide net — even if you think a particular issue or area may only be remotely related to the opioid epidemic,” according to the questionnaire.
“We can narrow this down later, if necessary.”
During Jan. 9 proceedings in the case in federal district court in Cleveland, District Court Judge Dan Polster urged lawyers for drug companies and government entities to reach a resolution.
The opioid crisis is claiming the lives of 50,000 citizens every year, about 150 of whom “are going to die today, just today, while we’re meeting,” Polster said.
“And in my humble opinion, everyone shares some of the responsibility, and no one has done enough to abate it.
“That includes the manufacturers, the distributors, the pharmacies, the doctors, the federal government and state government, local governments, hospitals, third-party payors and individuals.
“Just about everyone we’ve got on both sides of the equation in this case.”
Polster’s assertion is “an unfair accusation” and “overly broad,” Alvarez said Tuesday in an interview.
“We are completely strapped for money.
“Washington state is infamous for not providing enough for mental health and substance abuse.”
Frank said there was limited merit to Polster’s argument.
“Everyone probably was slower to react than the situation warranted,” Frank said.
“But I also think it’s clear that the real driver of this epidemic was the greed of the pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers, and it’s particularly difficult for counties in rural parts of the U.S. that really didn’t have the resources or the infrastructure to respond to this epidemic.”
Read Polster’s opinion and statements from lawyers in the case at https://tinyurl.com/PDN-PharmaSuit.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
