WI Health News

The Dane County Board of Supervisors voted last week to give the OK for the county to pursue a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers.

More than 80 percent of Wisconsin counties have sued drugmakers alleging that their marketing contributed to the opioid epidemic. The companies involved have denied wrongdoing.

“This is a crisis that must be addressed," Supervisor Mary Kolar said at a meeting last Thursday. 

Dane County’s resolution authorizes the county’s Office of Corporation Counsel to select outside counsel to pursue the lawsuit. The county would enter into a contingency fee arrangement, so the outside counsel wouldn’t receive compensation unless the county receives financial benefit.

Marcia MacKenzie, Dane County’s Corporation Counsel, said they’ll talk with the firms being used by the Wisconsin Counties Association. But she wants to “see if the county could get a better deal elsewhere” than the arrangement other counties have pursued.

“It may not be possible because they’ve already cornered the market,” she said. “But we owe it to the citizens and the taxpayers to look into it.”