Legal fight over opioid money in Florida heads to state Supreme Court

After losing in the appeals court, Attorney General Ashley Moody turned to the Florida Supreme Court in a potentially high-risk fight over whether hospital districts and school boards should be able to pursue lawsuits over the opioid epidemic after reaching a settlement with the pharmaceutical industry.

Moody’s lawyers filed a series of notices on Friday that are the first step in asking the Supreme Court to take up the case.

In August, a panel of the 1st District Court of Appeals rejected Moody’s arguments that it had the power to reach settlements with the industry that would effectively trump separate lawsuits brought by local government agencies. The appeals court then rejected a request to take a step called certification of an “issue of great public importance” to the Supreme Court.

As is typical, the notices filed on Friday do not include detailed arguments that Moody’s will present before the Supreme Court.

The dispute stems, at least in part, from seven settlements Moody’s reached with various companies over costs related to the opioid epidemic. Each of the settlements included a “write-off” of local government claims. Some of the settlements resulted from multi-state litigation – a so-called global settlement – while others arose from a lawsuit filed by the Pasco County attorney general’s office.

In 2022, Moody filed a lawsuit in Leon County Circuit Court against hospital districts and school boards in an attempt to prevent their claims against the industry. The lawsuit says the Moody’s settlement will provide money for opioid treatment, preventive and rehabilitation services, and the money will be distributed to communities across the state.

Last year, Leon County District Judge John Cooper agreed with Moody, saying the Legislature “specifically gave the attorney general authority to enforce consumer protection laws” and that Moody had the authority to reach a settlement that would prevent separate claims.

However, on August 14, a three-judge panel of the Tallahassee-based appellate court reversed Cooper’s decision and ruled in favor of Sarasota County Public Hospital District, Lee Memorial Health System, North Broward Hospital District, South Broward Hospital District at Halifax Hospital Medical Center, the Board Miami-Dade County School Board and Putnam County School Board.

Local agencies sought to recover costs related to treating patients or educating children affected by the epidemic from drug distributors, manufacturers or pharmacies.

“The Attorney General does not have the authority to unilaterally dismiss, for example, actual and individual damages incurred by both school boards for increased damages and expenses in complying with federal law regarding the special educational needs of students with disabilities – allegedly disabled by the actions of the opioid defendants (industry ) that caused students or their parents to become addicted to prescription opioids,” the appeals court’s ruling stated. “And this is just one example. Special hospital districts are also seeking, separately from the general public, individual and actual damages for damages allegedly caused by opioid defendants that resulted in these hospitals being forced to provide specialized medical care to opioid-dependent and injured patients. “It is not within the competence of the Attorney General to make such decisions.”

In a document filed in late August with the appeals court, Moody’s office said that if the panel’s decision is upheld, the state would lose at least $87 million in so-called incentive payments. The document filed last year said the two settlements included base payments and incentive payments. Incentive payments are related to the participation of local governments in settlements.

In the August document, Moody’s also said that “significantly more funding is at stake: For every dollar a local government recovers from opioid defendants, an equal amount is subtracted from the amount recovered by the state.” Given that many of the seven appellants (local agencies) have already filed cases, the state stands to lose hundreds of millions in opioid aid.”