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City attorney seeks authorization to sign national opioid settlements; local share to flow to Polk County abatement plan
Summary
The city attorney asked commissioners to authorize signing settlement agreements with Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family and several secondary manufacturers; proceeds would be channeled to Polk County's opioid abatement plan and Winter Haven's local share will be a small percentage of the county allocation.
The city attorney asked the commission to authorize timely signature of two settlement packages in national litigation over opioid manufacturers and distributors, one with Purdue Pharma (deadline September 30) and a second group of settlements with several secondary manufacturers (deadline October 8).
The attorney explained the settlements provide national funds and that Winter Haven, like other municipalities in Polk County, would assign its share to Polk County’s opioid abatement plan under an interlocal agreement. “Polk County, the regional percentage that the county gets is 2.15% of all that number,” the city attorney said. He added that Polk County’s portion would be divided among county jurisdictions and that Winter Haven’s share would be a small fraction: “Winter Haven would be entitled to 0.09% of that 1.55% of that 2.15%.”
The city attorney said he could not provide a precise dollar amount at the meeting because allocations depend on the national totals and the various settlement options that some manufacturers offered. He cited examples from the materials: Mylan was described as offering approximately $290 million over nine years; another manufacturer could pay approximately $98 million or supply naloxone (Narcan) product in-kind; Amneal was identified as offering up to approximately $74 million over 10 years or an equivalent in generic naloxone.
The attorney said the city must sign the settlements by the stated deadlines to be included and that the city’s signature would release claims the city might have against the settling manufacturers. He asked for authorization to timely execute the documents via DocuSign and transfer proceeds to the county’s abatement plan for administration.
Commissioner Mercer asked whether the funds would be used for treatment; the city attorney and city manager said they expected Polk County’s approved abatement plan to include treatment and education among allowable uses, but said the county would administer and report on the expenditures.
Ending: The city attorney requested authority to sign the settlement documents so Winter Haven’s allocation can be assigned to the county abatement plan; exact local dollar amounts were not available at the meeting and will be reported when allocations are calculated.
