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To approve of the City's participation in the proposed settlement of opioid-related claims against McKesson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and their related corporate entities, and to direct the City Attorney to execute the documents necessary to effectuate the City's participation in the settlements, including the required release of claims against the settling entities.
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WHEREAS, the opioid epidemic that has cost thousands of human lives across the country also affects the City of Richmond by adversely impacting the delivery of emergency medical, law enforcement, criminal justice, mental health and substance abuse services, and other services by the City's various departments and agencies; and
WHEREAS, the City has been required and will continue to be required to allocate substantial taxpayer dollars, resources, staff energy, and time to address the damage the opioid epidemic has caused and continues to cause the citizens of the City; and
WHEREAS, the City has filed suit against McKesson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, along with certain of their related corporate entities for their role in the distribution, manufacture, and sale of the pharmaceutical opioid products that have fueled the opioid epidemic that has harmed the City; and
WHEREAS, the City's suit seeks recovery of the public funds previously expended and to be expended in the future to abate the consequences and harms of the opioid epidemic; and
WHEREAS, settlement proposals have been negotiated that will cause McKesson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals to pay up to
$26,000,000,000.00 nationwide to resolve opioid-related claims against them; and
WHEREAS, the City's outside counsel for opioid litigation has recommended that the City participate in the settlements in order to recover its share of the funds that the settlement would provide; and
WHEREAS,...
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