Marion County is considering signing onto a lawsuit that would hold prescription pain pill makers responsible for some of the costs cities and counties face because of the ongoing epidemic.
Attorneys gave a presentation to the Board of Supervisors this week. Marion County has 182 opioid prescriptions for every 100 people, according to 2016 data from the Centers for Disease Control. That’s the second-highest rate in the state, behind only Forrest County.
This brings to mind the tobacco lawsuit of the 1990s. Then-Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore, using private attorneys hired by the state, sued cigarette makers. He argued the state should be reimbursed for its costs of treating diseases caused by smoking. Others joined, and the states ended up winning an astounding $368 billion. The tobacco industry had covered up the deadly consequences of using its product, and it finally caught up to the cash cow.
Of course, the Mississippi legislature has been glad to spend the tobacco money on whatever it needs at the moment, not so much the original intent of paying the costs of taking care of smokers. And many millions went to Moore’s cronies who filed the lawsuit. It’s safe to say very little trickled down to the county level.
This new opioid lawsuit aims to change that by having counties as the plaintiffs. It’s not too big of a stretch to tie increased costs for county taxpayers back to the prescription drug problem:
• Marion County raised property taxes this year by 4 mills, a significant amount.
• A major drain on Marion County’s finances is operation of the jail.
• Many pill addicts are in the jail.
That’s the basis of a case there, but to win it will greatly help if there is proof the opioid industry engaged in disreputable practices to make more money. An investigation published this week by The Washington Post and 60 Minutes makes a compelling case that it did.
The drug industry donated $1.5 million to 23 congressman who sponsored versions of a bill that prevented the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency from stopping suspicious shipments of prescription drugs. It flew through Congress last year with little scrutiny, passing by “unanimous consent,” a procedure normally reserved for non-controversial matters. President Obama signed it without being aware of its significance, according to the story.
“The law was the crowning achievement of a multifaceted campaign by the drug industry to weaken aggressive DEA enforcement efforts against drug distribution companies that were supplying corrupt doctors and pharmacists who peddled narcotics to the black market,” the story says.
The chief architect, Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., got rewarded by being nominated by President Trump to become the next U.S. drug czar. Marino withdrew Tuesday from consideration after the story was published.
Trump — who probably did not know about the drug industry’s connection to the law Marino helped get passed, just as Obama before him missed it — can thank his friends in the press for investigating and saving him some embarrassment just as he is about to declare a national emergency related to opioids next week. The investigation may aid Marion County eventually, too.
— Charlie Smith
