La Conner Schools joins lawsuit against opioid manufacturers

The La Conner School District has joined litigation brought by the Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney against the three leading opioid manufacturers in the U.S. market: Purdue, Janssen and Endo. The County is bringing legal action on behalf of the cities of Mount Vernon, Sedro-Woolley and Burlington, also. The City of Anacortes and other school districts are expected to join the lawsuit.

In its resolution, the board of directors “finds the acts and omissions of the Opioid Manufacturers to be a clear threat to the health, safety, welfare and integrity of the Skagit County and the students and families within the La Conner School District.”

The board joined the litigation “to abate the harm caused by the opioid narcotic products discussed herein, and to obtain appropriate redress and relief for any damage thereby caused.” The resolution states that 66 people died of opioid overdose deaths in the years 2012-2016 in Skagit County. The Seattle law firm Keller Rohrback, hired to litigate the case, states on its website that during those years there were 11.2 deaths per 100,000 residents in Skagit County, higher than the state average of 9.6.

Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Rosemary Kaholokula stated, in a press release, “Skagit County is awash in prescription opioids. In 2014, 125,436 opioid prescriptions were dispensed to one quarter of the Skagit County population. There are more prescriptions than there are residents in the county.” She is coordinating the litigation in Skagit County.

School Superintendent Whit-ney Meissner had attended meetings with County staffs and had been researching both the effects of opioids on students and their families and the obligations and benefits of joining the law suit since at least November.

After lengthy discussion, the vote at the February 28 meeting was unanimous. Board member Lynette Cram stressed “this is a huge problem. There is a trickledown effect in every area of our lives. This is really important. She asked Meissner to have staff quantify the problem to students and families in a tangible way.

Board member Brad Smith endorsed the resolution, saying “the school board is absolutely concerned. This is an important step that the board takes to express concern about the opioid crisis.”

The school district board also passed an attorney engagement and contingency fee agreement with the Seattle law firm Keller Rohrback. The agreement stip-ulates that the attorneys’ fee will be as high as 22 percent of the settlement. It is not known what the school district’s portion would equal. Meissner told the board that there is no charge or cost risk to the school district.

She said that the firm’s attorney believes the case will be settled out of court. It is combined with other cases in an Ohio District Court.