Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, December 07, 2021
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF FORMS, AGREEMENTS, AND A RESOLUTION ALLOWING THE CITY OF CARSON TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NATIONAL OPIOID SETTLEMENTS (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
Various states, counties, and cities have been in litigation with the McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc., and AmerisourceBergen Corporation. (collectively, the "Distributors") and Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc. (collectively, the "Manufacturer") (for purposes of this report, the Distributors and Manufacturer are collectively referred to as the "Settling Defendants"). The litigation concerns the distribution and manufacture of opioids that have contributed to the opioid addiction epidemic in the United States. Two tentative settlements have been reached with the Distributors and Manufacturer, respectively. The City Council is being asked to approve opting into the settlements, which would mean City would receive monies toward a range of approved abatement uses over a period of 18 years, including for intervention, treatment, education, and recovery services and in exchange, City would be agreeing to a very broad release of opioid-related claims in the lawsuit against the Settling Defendants. Unless City elects to directly administer the abatement programs, which would be rather onerous and likely impracticable given City's limited resources for these types of abatement measures, the monies would be released to Los Angeles County ("County") for County to administer the abatement measures. The deadline for City to formally opt into the settlements, effectuated by signing and returning the participation forms (Exhibits 1 and 2), is January 2, 2022.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1. APPROVE Settlement Participation Form for the City's participation in the National Opioid Settlement with McKesson Corporation,...
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