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Pawtucket City Council authorizes city participation in opioid settlements, approves related agreements
Summary
The Pawtucket City Council voted unanimously to authorize lending its vote to the Purdue bankruptcy plan, sign the Sackler participation and global settlement agreements, and approve settlements with eight pharmaceutical manufacturers as part of broader opioid litigation settlements.
The Pawtucket City Council on Sept. 10 unanimously authorized the city to participate in multiple settlements tied to national opioid litigation.
Councilors voted to: (1) authorize the city to vote in favor of the Purdue bankruptcy plan and direct the law department to submit that vote to the litigation consortium; (2) authorize the city to sign the Sackler participation agreement and the global entity settlement agreement required to receive funds from the Purdue direct settlement; and (3) authorize settlement participation agreements with eight manufacturers (referred to at the meeting as the "G8") and direct the law department to execute and submit those agreements by the dates cited in the motions.
The motions were presented by council members relying on counsel from the law department and the city solicitor. Each motion carried on roll call votes; the clerk recorded affirmative votes with no recorded dissents. Councilors said the votes were administrative approvals to accept settlement‑related documents and begin the process of receiving funds consistent with statewide settlement timetables.
Why it matters: the national settlements allocate funds to local governments, often conditioned on participation agreements. By authorizing the city to sign participation agreements and submit votes required by the bankruptcy and settlement processes, Pawtucket positioned itself to receive allocations and participate in distribution plans once the agreements are implemented.
The council also voted to file several solicitor communications related to ongoing litigation and to proceed with steps described by counsel. The law department will take the necessary administrative steps to submit the agreements to the consortium and finalize participation paperwork by the deadlines set in the motions.
