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EM, <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Board of County Commissioners <br />FROM: Dylan Reingold, County Attorney <br />DATE: June 7, 2021 <br />SUBJECT: Opioid Litigation <br />BACKGROUND. <br />On April 13, 2021, the Office of the Attorney General wrote a letter to Indian River County concerning <br />the ongoing opioid litigation and the several different negotiations with defendants in that litigation. The <br />Office of the Attorney General has provided similar letters to local governments across the State of <br />Florida. The Office of the Attorney General is seeking approval of a Memorandum of Understanding that <br />will serve as the allocation agreement between the State of Florida and the local governments. This would <br />govern the distribution of settlement proceeds obtained from Purdue Pharma, L.P., Mallinckrodt PLC, <br />Cardinal Health, Inc., McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen Corp. and Johnson & Johnson and any <br />potential settlements with other parties. Please note that Indian River County has not hired outside <br />counsel or filed a lawsuit in any of the opioid litigation cases. <br />As part of the proposed Memorandum of Understanding, money would go into a City/County Fund, a <br />Regional Fund and a State Fund. Depending on the amount of the settlements, Indian River County could <br />receive an estimated $65,000 to $121,000 from the City/County Fund. The other local governments in <br />Indian River County would receive money as well. The amount of the allocation was determined using a <br />model based upon the amount of opioids shipped to the county, the number of opioid deaths in a county, <br />and the number of people who suffer opioid use disorder in the county. <br />It is estimated that the Regional Fund would receive $184,000 to $3.42,000. Since Indian River County <br />has less than 300,000 people, the money would go to the Managing Entity in our region, Southeast Florida <br />Behavioral Health Network. Southeast Florida Behavioral Health Network would then use that money to <br />support programs in our community. Currently, Southeast Florida Behavioral Health Network is involved <br />in Indian River County through the Criminal Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Reinvestment <br />Grant. <br />51 <br />