Opioid-related treatment admissions doubled from 2013 to 2016

Freeborn County retained legal counsel last week to pursue litigation related to the opioid crisis, which has been declared a national epidemic.

The Freeborn County Board of Commissioners Jan. 2 approved retaining law firms Lockridge Grindal Nauen and Gustafson Gluek to pursue litigation related to the crisis. The Freeborn County Attorney’s Office signed a retainer agreement with the law firms Dec. 28, formally retaining their services.

“The agreement provides for a contingent fee depending upon the gross amount recovered whether by settlement, trial or appeal,” a press release from the County Attorney’s Office stated. “If there is no monetary recovery obtained in the litigation, then the law firms receive no payment for their services. The county hopes to obtain payment for expenses resulting from opioid addiction and also hopes to receive assistance in responding to the expected future need for services for those suffering due to opioid addiction.”

The number of opioid-related treatment admissions in Freeborn County doubled from 2013 to 2016, said Freeborn County Attorney David Walker.

Potential litigation is expected to center on opioids manufactured by pharmaceutical companies. Freeborn County’s pursuit of litigation is an effort other counties, including Mower County, have undertaken to combat the epidemic.

United Way of Freeborn County Executive Director Ann Austin said when she began as chairwoman of the Drug Education Task Force in 2008, the focus of the task force’s work was on combating methamphetamine, but that changed during her tenure to opioids. She headed the organization until 2012.

“It was really becoming a crisis many, many years ago,” she said.

Developments such as the drug drop box at the Freeborn County Law Enforcement Center have helped address the issue by making it easier to dispose of drugs, she said.

“It really became a great opportunity for people to get them out of their home,” Austin said.

She said prescription drugs were sometimes stolen out of medicine cabinets, and she advised counting the number of pills in a container to ensure they are not being stolen.

She cautioned against using prescription drugs unless they are necessary.

“Drugs are not necessarily the first means of finding relief from what is ailing us,” Austin said.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, among the more than 64,000 estimated drug overdose deaths in 2016, the sharpest increase occurred among fatalities related to fentanyl and fentanyl analogs — synthetic opioids — with more than 20,000 overdose deaths.

President Donald Trump declared opioid overdoses a “health emergency” in October.