The Shadow
The city of Covington has decided to opt out of the Negotiating Class of the national opiate litigation.
Covington officials believe the city could have a more favorable result as a Litigating Class Member than if it stayed in the Negotiating Class.
On Sept. 11, Judge Dan Polster of the Northern District of Ohio, presiding over the National Opiate Litigation, certified a first-ever Negotiating Class action consisting of every city and county in the U.S.
According to Covington City attorney Mark Popovich, “the purpose of the class is to collectivize the city/county constituency with opioid-related claims against national manufacturers, distributors and chain pharmacy defendants and to provide a centralized point of contact and control with whom such defendants can potentially negotiate a global settlement.”
The class consists of localities that had filed suits prior to June 14, 2019 (Litigating Class Members) and those who had not (Litigating Class Members).
“Since Covington had already filed suit, the city would be classified as a Litigating Class Member,” Popovich explained.
He added that the city has elected to opt out of being a part of the Negotiating Class “based upon analysis of the proposed class allocation model.
That model is made up of three factors:
• The number of cases of opioid use disorder;
• The number of opioid-related deaths;
• The amount of Morphine Milligram Equivalents (MMEs) of prescription opioid products shipped to the locality.
“Our analysis indicates that this model, while intending to be helpful, actually may harm the amount of potential damages the city could recover through a global settlement,” Popovich said. “In that regard, the city decided to opt out in the belief that it could have a more favorable result if it stayed in the Negotiating Class.”
