Latest drug settlement to add to county’s proceeds

Ozaukee County has agreed to participate in the settlement of lawsuit against another drug manufacturer — the latest in a series of deals that has already generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for the county to combat drug use and its effects on county residents.

The exact amount of money the county will receive as a result of the settlement with Swiss generic drug manufacturer Sandoz is not yet available, County Administrator Jason Dzwinel said.

  In February, Sandoz agreed to pay $275 million to resolve claims by U.S. consumers and others who accused the company of conspiring with industry rivals to illegally fix prices, according to news reports. Sandoz denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

Sandoz last year also agreed to pay $265 million to resolve related claims lodged in the litigation by a group of wholesale drug purchasers and others.

Ozaukee County will receive 1.036% of the settlement funds assigned to Wisconsin.

According to a memorandum, 20% of the county’s proceeds will be applied to attorney fees.

According to the memorandum, “the Sandoz settlement appears to be the first in a line of anticipated settlements with additional defendants, including Purdue Pharma,” which promises to be far more lucrative.

In June, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories approved a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma, maker of Oxycontin, over the company’s improper marketing of opioids.

In 2023, the Ozaukee County Board agreed to a settlement with drug companies that will generate millions of dollars over the next two decades to combat illegal drug use and their effects on the county’s residents. 

The Sandoz settlement is the latest in a series of cases that will generate more than $150,000 a year for the next 15 years or more that the county can use to combat drug use and provide services for addicts and their families.

Dzwinel said the Sandoz settlement  amount will not be as significant some of the previous ones.

The county has already received more than $700,000 through the settlements, Dzwinel said. 

The Wisconsin Counties Association coordinated the lawsuit against the pharmaceutical companies that, according to background documents, “flooded the market with highly addictive drugs claiming they were safe and efficacious for long-term use, manufactured studies to support these false claims and knowingly misrepresented the addictive nature of these drugs.”

Those drugs included opioids, a class of drugs like prescription painkillers such as oxycodone and morphine, as well as illegal drugs like heroin.

The wave of drugs in recent years not only has resulted in more drug-related arrests in Ozaukee County, but more property crimes committed by those seeking to finance their addictions and a surge in the number of children placed by the county outside of their homes because of drug abuse and neglect by their parents, officials say.

Ozaukee County Sheriff Christy Knowles and other county officials have earmarked the funds for programs aimed at helping create or expand non-arrest programs that prevent and reduce overdose deaths and expand access to treatment and recovery as well as support early diversion programs that reach people before they enter the criminal justice system.

She recently proposed using state grant funds to create a mental health and drug diversion program and, along with District Attorney Benjamin Lindsay, creating a Crime Prevention Board that would issue grants  to law enforcement agencies and nonprofits to help in the effort.