County has role in opioid suit
As Franklin County took the first official step Tuesday toward joining a national lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors, the county’s attorney said it will play a vital role in the litigation.
As Ohio’s most-populous county, Franklin County also provides medical and other services for residents of many other Ohio counties battling the opioid epidemic. Already, Franklin County has spent large sums of money in that fight and will need much more to continue the effort with services and programs to
help the addicted, said an attorney representing the county, David Butler.”What we are seeking as recovery in the (suit) is money for the past expenses to deal with the opiate crisis, but going forward, what do these communities need to clean up this mess?” said Butler, who is managing partner of the Columbus office of the law firm of Taft, Stettinius & Hollister.
Franklin County is important, Butler stressed, because many of the residents of Ohio counties whom the law firm already represents in the opioid lawsuit have gone or go to Franklin County for medical and other services related to their addiction and treatment.
“Franklin County could play a role that would be very unique and actually transcend the borders of Franklin County itself,” Butler said.
Franklin County officially has yet to join the suit but is taking steps that would allow that to happen.
At their meeting Tuesday, commissioners passed a resolution that allows them to hire outside attorneys to represent them in the suit. Next, a local judge, under Ohio law, has to approve hiring outside lawyers. That is expected to happen next week.
The commissioners’ vote came on the same day the federal judge in Cleveland presiding over the suit, which involves governments in several states, met with lawyers on both sides to start the process that could lead to a trial or settlement.
Those governments accuse opioid manufacturers and distributors of improperly preferring profits over public health by flooding the market with opioids that created the epidemic, costing cities, counties and states billions of dollars, now and in the future, in health-care and other costs.
Opioid manufacturers and distributors — including Dublinbased Cardinal Health — have generally said they’ve done nothing illegal. Some also have provided millions for drugs that counteract opioids and for other costs related to opioid addiction.
“Combating the opioid crisis in Franklin County requires more than a Band-Aid response. We have all seen the impact on individuals and families. As commissioners, we have also seen the burden on our critical safety-net services,” Commissioner Marilyn Brown said Tuesday.
“Wholesale distributors and manufacturers spent the better part of two decades pumping lethal, addictive drugs into communities like ours. Changing the culture of use and abuse will take resources, research, education, law enforcement and engagement from the entire community.”
Commissioners John O’Grady and Kevin Boyce agreed.
“It’s something that is in the best interest of the citizens and residents of Franklin County because it’s a community health crisis,” O’Grady said.
“The thoughts now,” Boyce added, “are to project out into the future how we can change the future from here on.”
Franklin County is as important as any other Ohio county in doing that, Butler said.
Franklin County has high-quality resources and services that “serve not only Franklin County but the region as well,” Butler said.
Local communities across the country have filed lawsuits against drug companies. On Tuesday, a judge overseeing 180 of those lawsuits compared the opioid epidemic to the deadly 1918 flu pandemic.
U.S. District Court Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland said in court that he was “ashamed” the epidemic is taking place, calling it “100 percent man-made.”
“What we’ve got to do,” the judge said, “is dramatically reduce the number of pills that are out there, and make sure that the pills that are out there are being used properly. Because we all know that a whole lot of them have gone walking, with devastating results.”
There were 63,600 drug-overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2016, making it the mostlethal and widespread drug crisis in American history. Most of those deaths were caused by prescription opioid pills or illegal opioids such as heroin and fentanyl.
Both sides, the judge said, must focus on reducing drug-overdose deaths.
The suit’s goal, Butler said, is to get money for communities to effectively deal with the epidemic.
That includes helping law enforcement keep communities safe and providing as much education as possible.
“Who do we partner with on education programs to teach children that what’s in their parents’ medicine cabinet could be just as bad as smoking crack?” Butler asked.
Butler, who was involved in the litigation against tobacco companies in the 1990s, expects the cost of trying to address the damage caused by the opioid epidemic and treatment and education for the future to run into the “many billions of dollars.”
PASADENA, Calif. — In an odd twist, fellow hosts of “CBS This Morning” turned to their colleague Gayle King — famous friend of Oprah Winfrey — for an interview Tuesday about whether her pal would run for president.
If a Winfrey candidacy moves beyond idle chatter, one of the leading figures on a CBS News show that prides itself on hardnosed journalism would have a conflict of interest on a major story.
King attended the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday and said on “CBS This Morning” that she spent several hours with Winfrey after the speech that fueled political speculation. King said her friend is intrigued by the idea of a candidacy but didn’t think she was actively considering it.
CBS’ Norah O’Donnell and Jeff Glor considered King’s close relationship with Winfrey such common knowledge that they didn’t even explain it before asking questions on Tuesday’s show. The two women have been good friends since they both worked at a Baltimore television station in their early 20s.
Watching the interview was weird, CNN’s Dana Bash said on that network about an hour later.
If the candidacy becomes real, “Gayle’s gotta leave,” responded CNN morning host Chris Cuomo.
Then, perhaps remembering that his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has been mentioned as a 2020 presidential candidate, Cuomo quickly switched gears.
“I have the right to change my opinion,” he said. “Does she have to leave? Maybe she does. I guess they could do the coverage in a way where she never handles it. But it would raise questions with people.”
CBS will address the issue if and when it becomes one, CBS News President David Rhodes said. The network has always been transparent in letting viewers know that Winfrey and King are friends, he said. Winfrey also works for CBS News; she does occasional stories for “60 Minutes.”