The Jefferson City Council decided Monday evening to not join a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, distributors and others in the supply chain.
The council rejected a resolution 4-3 that would have authorized Jefferson City to enter a lawsuit with other Missouri political subdivisions, such as Joplin and Jefferson County. Six council members were needed to approved the resolution.
Council members Rick Mihalevich, Mark Schreiber and Erin Wiseman voted against the resolution while council members David Kemna, Laura Ward, Ken Hussey and Carlos Graham voted for the resolution. Council members Rick Prather, Ron Fitzwater and Jon Hensley abstained from voting.
The lawsuit claims opioid manufacturers, distributors and others in the supply chain marketed their opioid drugs "fraudulently" and created a "public health crisis in which people were unnecessarily prescribed opioid, which leads to many problems - overdose, health issues, police responses, medical responses," City Counselor Ryan Moehlman said.
"Generally it's been found that opioid addiction can lead to problems in and of itself where people are using opioids not for pain management but because they are addicted to it," Moehlman told the News Tribune. "Opioids can also lead to heroin addiction, so it puts a strain on public resources like EMS and police resources for the city."
If the political subdivisions win the lawsuit, Moehlman said, they could recoup some of the costs incurred from using emergency resources to address the opioid crisis.
It is unknown how much money Jefferson City has incurred due to the opioid crisis, said Moehlman, Jefferson City Fire Department Chief Matthew Schofield and Jefferson City Police Department Chief Roger Schroeder.
There are similar opioid lawsuits occurring across the country. Cole County joined a similar lawsuit in August 2018.
Since Jefferson City is part of Cole County, some council members said, they were hesitant to join the lawsuit since they were unsure if they would receive money from Cole County if it won its lawsuit.
There was enough separation between the city's emergency resources and the county's that "it is worth considering the city pursuing its own claims on behalf of itself," Moehlman said.
Since Cole County officials have not contacted Jefferson City regarding the county's lawsuit, Graham said, that is an indicator Jefferson City would not receive damages from the county if the county won its lawsuit.
Other council members said they were worried they would pull too many emergency personnel off the streets to collect data on opioid calls in Jefferson City if they agreed to join the lawsuit.
"I feel these things can go on and on and on, and it would be a great deal of resources, staff time," Schreiber said.