Label
One Ohio - Memorandum of Understanding
Department of Law
Dale R. Emch (x2384)
Title
Authorizing the Mayor to execute a Memorandum of Understanding for the One Ohio plan that seeks to resolve pending opioid litigation statewide; sets forth the allocation of funds that may be available should a settlement be reached with the defendants; and creates an organizational structure for the distribution of those funds; and declaring an emergency.
Body
SUMMARY & BACKGROUND:
The City of Toledo has a lawsuit pending in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against various defendants in the pharmaceutical supply chain related to the devastating impact the opioid epidemic has had on the Toledo community.
Other municipalities and county governments throughout the state also have filed lawsuits, as has the State of Ohio. Similarly, legal actions have been filed by governmental entities throughout the United States.
During the pendency of these cases, the State of Ohio and local governments began discussing a plan that would allow for a global settlement of all Ohio cases. That process resulted in the development of the One Ohio Memorandum of Understanding. The MOU sets out the formula by which political entities would be compensated, the fund-allocation model that would be available should a settlement be reached with the defendants, and the organizational structure through which those funds would be distributed. Further, the MOU addresses how any funds that may one day be available should be used to address the past harms of the opioid epidemic and provide funding for abatement plans in the future.
Signing the MOU indicates an intent to proceed in the outlined manner, but does not require the City of Toledo to agree to the terms of a settlement. To be clear, at this point, the collection of Ohio governmental entities has not reached a global settlement. This ordinance simply allows the City of Toledo to explore this resolution model and organizatio...
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