By Ryan Clark
NKyTribune reporter
City commissioners agreed Tuesday night to move forward with obtaining legal representation and investigating the possibility of suing drug companies over the prescription opiate crisis.
The city will retain the counsel of Covington-based Bonar, Bucher and Rankin to investigate whether they can sue to recover costs incurred by the drug problem, which has stretched Covington’s already-busy police and medical personnel.
Covington could join a long list of county and city governments across the country, as well a the State of Kentucky, that have filed lawsuits against drug distributors for flooding the market with pain pills. In the past year, local governments have jumped on board too, like: Boone County, Kenton County, the cities of Louisville and Cincinnati, and Clermont County, among others.
The main three distributors of these drugs, which control about 80 percent of that market, made a combined $400 billion in annual revenues, city officials reported.
In January, the Associated Press reported that Floyd County, in eastern Kentucky, with a population of 38,000, was shipped more than 18 million doses of opioid painkillers by a San Francisco-based distributor between 2010-2016.
That’s 477 pills for each person.
Kentucky’s Attorney General, Andy Beshear, decided to sue the McKesson Corporation in state court, accusing the company of “using misleading business practices to flood the state with dangerous and highly addictive prescription drugs and failing to report suspiciously large volumes of opioid shipments to state and federal authorities.”
Spokespeople for the drug distributors argue that there is much more to the process — like when doctors write prescriptions.
Bonar, Bucher and Rankin will partner with Utica, N.Y.-based Brindisi, Murad, Brindisi & Pearlman, along with Robert F. Julian, also of Utica, and The Cherundolo Law Firm of Syracuse.
City officials made clear Tuesday night at their regularly scheduled caucus meeting that the city would be pursuing this action — it is not part of any class action lawsuit. Yet.
However, the New York-based lawyers do have experience if the litigation should go that route.
“And they only get paid if we do,” said Michael Bartlett, the city’s senior assistant city solicitor.
Commissioners agreed to put the topic on the consent agenda for next Tuesday’s legislative meeting.
“If we can recover any of the cost (from the opioid problem), that would be for the better,” Mayor Joe Meyer said.
Also Tuesday:
- Staff Accountant Jerome Heist presented a third quarter general fund financial review that showed about $38 million spent from the $52.7 million budget. As he said, it is to be expected to be around 75 percent of the budget by the end of the third quarter. The city is currently just under that number, at about 72 percent.
- Commissioners agreed to move forward to partner with the county to place a radio tower in Devou Park. The tower, which will be used solely for emergency communication and dispatch purposes, will be located along Montague Road, about 300 yards northwest of the intersection between Montague and Home Road, reported Bartlett and County Administrator Joe Shriver. The tower will be constructed and maintained by the county. The park had no further plans for the area, which provided the necessary elevation and space for coverage for the emergency communication, reaching Covington, Ludlow, Bromley, Villa Hills and Park Hills, among other areas. The proposal was moved to next Tuesday’s consent agenda.
- Commissioners agreed to solicit proposals for the city-owned property at 1316 Greenup St. At least two buyers have expressed interest in the property, which the city purchased for about $40,000. Economic Development Director Tom West said he hopes that along with newly-hired Neighborhood Services Director Ken Smith, the pair can use this as a model for selling property in the future.
- Mayor Meyer reminded the public that next Tuesday, commissioners will hear the second reading and take a vote on an ordinance that would amend section 3.03.05 of the zoning code to allow “restaurant with or without beer, wine or alcohol,” and “retail sales and service, other (not specifically listed above or specifically included herein)” as conditional uses in the “IL-Industrial Limited” zone.
- Commissioners moved forward with accepting committee recommendations for the Orchard Park proposals. Orchard Park, a “vacant city-owned greenspace bordered by Jackson Street, Orchard Street, Berry Street, and Locust Street,” is located in the Westside Neighborhood, according to the city website. “Over the last several years, the city and its partners have been working with the community to revitalize this area, clean up streets, program open spaces and manage community gardens.” Last summer, the city issued an RFP, which currently features two development sites, one on the east side of Locust Street and another on the north side of Martin Luther King. In December, the city reviewed the proposals, and the committee recommended to move forward with the Center for Great Neighborhoods for the second site. On the first site, the committee recommended that the commission reject all bids. The recommendation will be on the consent agenda next Tuesday.
- Commissioners accepted a bid for $694,000 by Bluegrass Paving for annual street resurfacing.
The next Covington Commission meeting will be a legislative meeting held at 6 p.m., April 24 at the Covington City Hall at 20 West Pike St.
Contact the Northern Kentucky Tribune at news@nkytrib.com