Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Andrew J. Meyers
Department: County Attorney
Information
Requested Action
title
MOTION TO APPROVE Participation Agreement regarding opioid litigation in substantially the same form as Exhibit 1; and to authorize the County Administrator to execute the Participation Agreement with any required modifications; provided such modifications do not impose any additional material financial risk on the County, and subject to review and approval as to legal sufficiency by the County Attorney’s Office.
body
Why Action is Necessary
Approval is required by the Board of County Commissioners (“Board”) to resolve the County’s pre-suit claims against Alvogen, Inc., Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Apotex, Inc., Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Indivior, Inc., Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc., and Zylus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., eight manufacturers of opioid drugs, collectively referred to as the “Defendants.”
What Action Accomplishes
Allows the Board to approve the Participation Agreement, which will settle and release any of the County’s potential opioid claims against the eight manufacturers of opioid drugs.
Goal Related Icon(s)
☐County Commission
☐Go Green
☐MAP Broward
Previous Action Taken
Summary Explanation/Background
On September 21, 2021, the Board adopted Resolution No. 2021-464 (Item No. 51), which approved the Florida Opioid Allocation and Statewide Response Agreement (the “Florida Plan”). The Florida Plan provided the framework to resolve the pending claims against opioid drug distributors, manufacturers, marketers, and other potential parties in connection with the opioid epidemic. The material provisions of the Florida Plan provide that: (1) the Florida Attorney General is authorized to negotiate and enter into settlements with the defendants in the multidistrict opioid litigation on behalf of Florida’s subdivisions and cities; (2) the settlement proceeds will be allocated into three funds (state, city/county, and regional); (3) certain large counties (including Broward County) can obtain the full regional fund if they become “Qualified Counties” by reaching agreements with a sufficient number of their municipalities relating to the use of such funds for abatement of the opioid epidemic; and (4) each governmental plaintiff must execute a Participation Agreement to become eligible to receive its share of the settlement funds.
On December 14, 2021 (Item No. 47), the Board approved an Interlocal Agreement for the County to enter into with municipalities that, if approved by a sufficient number of municipalities, would enable the County to qualify as a “Qualified County” under the Florida Plan, which would further enable the County to obtain the regional funds proceeds allocated under the Florida Plan. The County became a Qualified County in March 2022.
The Board has approved Participation Agreements resulting in settlements with a number of defendants. This most recently occurred on the Board’s September 4, 2025, agenda, resulting in a settlement of the County’s claims against Purdue Pharma.
While a sufficient number of states have approved the pre-suit settlement such that the settlements against these eight defendants will proceed, the exact amount the State of Florida will receive will be contingent upon several factors, including the level of participation by Florida’s local subdivisions, municipalities, school districts, towns, and villages. Based on the available information to date, the State of Florida is expected to receive between $40 million and $50 million in settlement funds. Under the Florida Plan, the County should receive between $1.4 million and $1.8 million in settlement funds, which includes the County’s shares from the city/county bucket and the regional bucket as a Qualified County. Except for funds allocated to pay attorneys’ fees and costs and the five percent allocable to administrative fees, all settlement funds must be used for abating the opioid crisis. Once all the Participation Agreements have been received from Florida’s local subdivisions, municipalities, school districts, towns, and villages, the County will be able to determine the exact amount of settlement funds it will receive under the Florida Plan.
To receive these amounts from the settlement with the Defendants, the County must approve the Participation Agreement, which is attached as Exhibit 1. The Participation Agreement will release all the County’s pre-suit claims against Alvogen, Inc., Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Apotex, Inc., Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Indivior, Inc., Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc., and Zylus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. This settlement will have no effect on the County’s unresolved claims against other distributors, manufacturers, marketers, retailers, and other opioid-related parties in any ongoing litigation.
The County’s outside counsel and the County Attorney’s Office recommend that the Board approve the Participation Agreement.
Source of Additional Information
Danielle W. French, Deputy County Attorney, 954-357-7600
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
Not applicable.