TITLE
Title
APPROVE MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT WITH NORTH CAROLINA ON PROCEEDS RELATED TO SETTLEMENT OF OPIOID LITIGATION
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SPONSOR
Sponsor
Mark Payne, County Attorney
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BACKGROUND
Background
Opioid misuse and addiction has been a long-standing and devasting problem in Guilford County, in North Carolina, and throughout the US. It has taken the lives of at least 436 of our citizens between 2017 through 2020; it has torn apart countless families with the devastating impact of misuse and addiction; it has required the expenditure of millions of dollars of Guilford County resources and required countless hours of time and resources from the men and women who are on the front-line of trying to address this problem: our first responders, law enforcement, counselors, and health providers. This crisis shows little signs of slowing down and continues to be a destructive epidemic impacting all of Guilford County.
Guilford County determined that the manufacturers, distributors and other corporations supplying (and over-supplying) opioids to our citizens were legally liable for an egregious contribution to the opioid crisis we find ourselves in. In light of that determination, Guilford County filed a lawsuit in 2019 against a number of corporations which Guilford County believed shared in the responsibility for this crisis. See Guilford County v. AmerisourceBergen Drug Company, et al. 19 CV 00468 (2019, MDNC). In doing so, Guilford County joined hundreds of local governments throughout North Carolina and the nation in similar lawsuits, as well as a great many State actions, including North Carolina. Partly as a result of these lawsuits and subsequent discussions, it appears that a national settlement may be reached which will bring significant resources to Guilford County to help in its fight to remediate and reduce this crisis. No national settlement has been reached as of the writing of this agenda item; however, it appears that such settlement may be clos...
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