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County disallows OptumRx claim related to opioid litigation
Summary
The Chippewa County Board voted to disallow a notice of claim filed by OptumRx after outside counsel advised the board that resolutions and engagement letters authorized adding defendants to ongoing opioid litigation.
Chippewa County’s board voted to disallow a notice of claim filed by OptumRx Inc., after county legal counsel and outside attorneys advised that prior board resolutions authorized adding defendants in the county’s long-running opioid litigation.
The county’s outside counsel told the board that the county joined class-action opioid litigation in February 2017 via resolution 54-17 and had sought to add OptumRx as a defendant. OptumRx filed a notice of claim on May 1 asserting the county’s attorneys lacked authority to pursue adding it; the claim did not seek money damages but requested legal counsel to withdraw the county’s motion to add OptumRx.
County counsel and outside counsel reviewed the notice and pointed to resolution 15-25, passed June 10 of the current year, which confirmed and reauthorized authority to add previously unnamed defendants. Based on that review and the subsequent resolution, the county’s recommendation was to disallow OptumRx’s claim. The board approved the resolution to disallow the claim.
The disallowance preserves the county’s defenses and directs that the claimant be notified by certified mail, per the resolution’s text, which cites Wisconsin statute on notice of disallowance. The board recorded no further action on the claim at the meeting.
