Branch County receives first opioid lawsuit payment
BRANCH COUNTY — After a 2021 settlement of its lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors, the check arrived at the end of January for $228,000, the first payment of $1.2 million Branch County will receive over 20 years.
At the same time, the county agreed to a second settlement with distributors for “what we believe is around $400,000,” county administrator Bud Norman reported.
Commissioner waived their rules last Thursday after a closed session to approve the agreement.
Norman said the new settlement was a surprise.
“This settlement popped up. It wasn't one of the original ones. I don't anticipate anymore. But there certainly could be somebody else.”
Norman said the new settlement was with Meijer Pharmacy for distribution of opioid pills. The company deliver the least number of pills in Branch County, according to the DEA Automated Reports and Consolidated Ordering System as reported in the lawsuit.
From 2006 to 2012, the Meijer Coldwater store provided 915,590 opioid pills.
Over those seven years, 9,413,650 prescription pain pills were dispensed in Branch County, enough for 29 pills per person per year.
The DEA records showed just how many other local pharmacies dispensed opioids: Wal-Mart Pharmacy, Coldwater, 1,928,000 pills; Walgreens, Coldwater, 1,789,700 pills; CVS, Coldwater, 1,642,100 pills; and Rite Aid of Michigan, Coldwater, 1,407,430 pills,
Reporting has since changed to grams of opioids by ZIP code.
Branch County contended in its lawsuit, over-prescription led to increases in overdoses, deaths, and increases in illegal opioid use, such as heroin.
In the 10 years since 2013, Branch County 911 reported 597 calls for drug overdoses.
After the first reports of opioid abuse in 2015, overdose numbers dropped from over 50 a year to 45 in 2016; 46 in 2017; 39 in 2018, and 44 in 2019.
Doctors are now required to report opioid prescriptions and limit the number of pills a person can obtain.
But since 2019 local overdoses are back up. The numbers again increased to 67 in 2020; 60 in 2021, and 65 in 2022. There are already 11 in Branch County in the first 40 days of 2023.
More:County moves on Opioid suit
Nationwide governments went after the four major manufactures of 85% of opioids, Perdue Pharma, Jansen, Teva and Endo Health Solutions. Collectively, they reported profits of $102.9 billions in 2016.
Rather than file in a class action suit where damages are divided among the plaintiffs, lawyers filed individually so the counties can be compensated for individual damages.
There were over 40 Michigan Counties and five cities that filed individual suits.
As trials were set up begin in October 2020, Perdue Pharma filed bankruptcy prompting settlement agreements among all the defendants and the drug companies plus the three major distributors.
The county had hired the firm of Sommers and Schwartz which recommended the county join the $4.5 billion settlement. The law firm receives 25% of the amounts collected for the county.
Norman does not believe there are restriction on how the county can use the settlement money, “but there are recommendations of what to use the money on, for example, education, counseling, advertisements, promotion” or similar program related to the drug problem.
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Norman said the money could possibly be directed toward the EMT training the county now sponsors for LifeCare.
The administrator said discussion will take place on how to use the funds received.
— Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DReidTDR.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Branch County receives opioid lawsuit first payment, settles with another defendant
