County board approves Purdue Pharma plan and signs onto additional opioid settlements

The Winnebago County Board approved a resolution endorsing the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan and authorizing execution of the governmental-entity settlement agreement that includes the Sackler release. The board also approved a separate resolution authorizing county participation in settlement agreements with eight other defendants in opioid litigation. The first resolution authorizes Winnebago County to execute the governmental-entity settlement agreement tied to the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan. County Board Member Mitch Butida moved the resolution; the board approved it by voice vote. A second resolution authorizing participation in settlements with eight additional manufacturers and distributors — Alvogen, Amneal, Apotex, Eroma (transcript: Ecma), Indivior (transcript: Indiver), Mylan, Sun Pharma and Zydus (transcript: Zitis) — also passed after a motion by Butida and a second by Ray Thompson. The board directed staff to provide a memo on the total value of opioid settlements the county has received; one board member referenced "millions of dollars" in aggregate but the precise total was not provided at the meeting. The resolutions came from the finance committee and were approved without further debate on the floor. The board packet included settlement documentation for committee review; no details of disbursement schedules or local spending plans were discussed at length at the meeting.