Rochester has joined the growing list of cities, counties, state and others demanding compensation from opioid drug makers and distributors for an addiction epidemic that has reached crisis levels.
The Rochester City Attorney’s Office filed the federal lawsuit Monday.
“The city is seeking compensatory damages and injunctive relief for the City from the manufacturers and distributors of opiates,” City Attorney Jason Loos said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
“As every Rochester resident knows, our community has been uniquely and disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis plaguing our country today,” he added. “By filing this lawsuit, the mayor and the City Council are making it clear that our community will not simply acquiesce in the harms the people of Rochester have already suffered, and will continue to suffer, while the defendant manufacturers and distributors continue to profit from their sales and distribution of highly addictive drugs.”
The council approved efforts to explore the lawsuit in March and authorized Mayor Kim Norton to sign an agreement with Keller Lenkner LLC to research the options.
Rochester has now retained a coalition of law firms to prosecute the case on its behalf. The litigation will be led locally by the Minnesota firm of Hoff Barry P.A. National trial counsel will be provided by two law firms, Keller Lenkner and Consovoy McCarthy PLLC.
Loos said city staff will have a minimal role in the process, aside from gathering data associated with city costs, which includes making sure first-responders have access to Narcan, generically referred to as naloxone, to counteract opioid overdoses.
When it comes to legal fees, the city won’t see a bill unless its case is won. If damages are awarded, the law firms will take a third of the money, in addition to fees to cover their expenses.
Loos said the fees would be split between multiple jurisdictions, since the law firms are taking several similar cases to a single judge for a preliminary ruling.
“It’s almost like a class-action lawsuit at that point,” he said.
More than 40 states and about 1,600 cities, counties Native American tribes and others throughout the country have taken similar steps.
In 2017, the Olmsted County Board of Commissioners voted to authorize legal action to address the aftermath of a flood of opioids in the county.
At the time, County Attorney Mark Ostrem said the county had seen rising costs for treatment and added services to families in the wake of opioid addiction.
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