Kelley

Pulaski County Judge-Executive Steve Kelley Steve Cornelius Photo

No price can be placed on the human toll claimed by the opioid epidemic over the decade but many communities across the nation are facing real financial straits as they struggle to stem the tide of substance abuse.

On Tuesday, Pulaski County Fiscal Court passed a resolution to join a class action lawsuit against the manufacturers of opioid drugs.

“We all know the crisis we face not only in Pulaski County but statewide and nationwide,” Judge-Executive Steve Kelley said in presenting the resolution to magistrates.

Kelley added that the county must present statistics to the attorneys representing the counties — a consortium of at least five firms — in order to demonstrate damages in terms of enforcement as well as the cost to house and treat addicts.

“If [the suit is] successful, we will be able to claim part of that settlement back for Pulaski County to go toward fighting opioid addiction,” Kelley said.

County Attorney Martin Hatfield explained that one of the attorneys had made a presentation recently at the Kentucky County Attorneys Association conference. A presentation had also been made to the Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo).

“There’s no cost to the county to do this if there’s no recovery [of damages],” Hatfield said. “I would join in his [Kelley’s] recommendation that the court vote to adopt this resolution.”

Magistrate Jimmy Wheeldon made the motion, seconded by Magistrate Jason Turpen, and it was unanimously approved.

While the specifics of this lawsuit were not discussed in court, similar class actions are being filed in other states. As far as Kentucky, counties participating include Boone, Kenton, Campbell, Anderson, Boyle, Lincoln, Garrard, Madison, Whitley, Knox, Bell, Leslie, Harlan, Perry, Knott and Pike.

A memorandum summarizing the complaint alleges that distributors — including McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health — failed to spot and report suspicious orders as required by federal law “since at least September 2006” as well as Kentucky law. It notes that overdose deaths involving prescription opioids have quadrupled since 1999, as have the sale of these drugs.