County Signs Resolution To Continue Lawsuit Against Opioid Producers

Crawford County commissioners on Tuesday passed an updated resolution that continues a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies that produce Oxycontin and other narcotic painkillers.

Crawford County is one of 17 counties and two municipalities that are plaintiffs in the suit, which was filed in August.

Carey, Danis and Lowe is the law firm bringing the suit and representing the plaintiffs. 

Commissioners first approved joining the suit in March when St. Louis attorney Jack Garvey addressed officials. 

Garvey, a former circuit judge in St. Louis and now a counsel at Carey, Danis and Lowe, said 18 people died from opioid overdoses in Crawford County from 2011 to 2015. Garvey said at the time the emergency room rate for overdoses was among the highest in the state.

Garvey said Tuesday that the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed and they plan to re-file in January with the hopes of staying in state court. 

There are currently 3,000 cases pending in federal court against pharmaceutical companies with another 2,500 in state systems around the country, according to Garvey. 

“The resolution firms up that the county is bringing on their authority,” Garvey said. “We will be adding more cities and more counties and adding more defendants.”

There is no charge for being part of the lawsuit and unless there is a recovery, there will be no fee. Clients will pay 30 percent of the recovery to Carey, Danis and Lowe.

The money would have to be used to combat the problems that opioids have caused. “The idea is to take care of you in the future,” Garvey said in March.

Garvey called the opioid crisis “a toxic dump on Main Street” that pharmaceutical companies created. The communities have been left behind to clean up the mess.

The lawsuit has encouraged enlistment from counties with the biggest opioid-related issues. Other counties that have joined in the lawsuit have been towards the southwest portion of the state.

More than 72,000 Americans died last year from overdose In September, Missouri received nearly $29 million from the federal government to increase access to medication-assisted treatment and support prevention, treatment and recovery programs.

Community health centers and other rural health providers would have the ability to expand services for integrated substance abuse disorder and mental health services.