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Madera County joins Purdue and multi-defendant opioid settlements, board authorizes county officers to execute agreements
Summary
After closed-session review, the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to approve participation in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement plan and to join a nine-defendant national opioid settlement that includes a Sackler-release, authorizing county staff to finalize documents.
The Madera County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday authorized county officials to join and implement two opioid-related settlement agreements, including a bankruptcy plan for Purdue Pharma and a multi-defendant national settlement allocation that includes a release for members of the Sackler family.
County counsel told the board the decisions came during closed session and were approved on unanimous 5-0 votes. "On item 2(d), the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement plan was approved on a motion by Supervisor McCauley, seconded by Supervisor Wamhoff," county counsel said. The board authorized the county administrative officer or county counsel to execute documents and take other actions needed to implement the settlement. "On 2(e), the board approved joining a nine-defendant settlement allocation, including a governmental entity settlement agreement with the Sackler release," county counsel added, noting that motion was made by Supervisor Poitras and seconded by Supervisor Wamhoff.
Why it matters: The county's votes make Madera County an enrolling governmental entity in the national settlement framework and permit local officials to sign settlement documents and accept any related allocation of funds or terms. County counsel presented both items as reportable closed-session actions, and the board recorded motions, seconders and unanimous tallies for each item.
What the board approved: The board's actions authorized the county administrative officer or county counsel to take necessary steps to bind the county to the respective settlement documents. County counsel specifically identified the Purdue Pharma plan as a United States Bankruptcy Court (Southern District of New York) matter and described the national prescription opioid litigation as a separate federal case addressed by the national settlement.
Statements and attribution: The closed-session report was delivered by county counsel. County counsel summarized the motions and vote tallies but did not provide further public detail about the county's expected share of any settlement funds or the full terms; those details were not included in the closed-session report made public during the meeting.
Next steps: County counsel and the county administrative officer were authorized to sign and otherwise implement the settlements on behalf of Madera County. County staff did not present allocation amounts or an implementation timeline during the open session report. Further documents or reports would typically be provided to the board when more concrete implementation steps, disbursements, or programmatic uses of funds are known.
