Stow City Council takes next step in opioid crisis

After Summit County declared a state of emergency due to the opioid crisis, Stow City Council adopted an ordinance Thursday night to hire law firms to provide legal counsel.

“[We are] asking City Council to help us continue to fight by authorizing legislation to hire and file a class action lawsuit in conjunction with Summit County, the city of Akron, Barberton and Cuyahoga Falls, and possible others to join us, against the pharmaceutical companies and health distributors responsible for this crisis,” Law Director Amber Zibritosky said.

Ohio is the nation’s leader in deaths due to opioids with 3,310 people dying from overdose in 2015 and 4,050 dying from overdose in 2016.

Records show that in 2016 the city of Stow had 93 people admitted into emergency rooms because of drug overdoses. Safety forces responded to nearly 60 calls in 2016, which compares to the mere 17 calls responded to in 2013.

Nationwide the crisis continues to grow with nearly 62,000 overdose deaths in last year alone. Zibritosky compared the opioid crisis to the Vietnam War, which resulted in 55,000 deaths during its entirety. That means within one year (2016) the opioid crisis caused more deaths than the entire Vietnam War. 

County Executive Ilene Shapiro signed the executive order Wednesday declaring the state of emergency addressing the large amount of money the opioid crisis has cost local taxpayers.

Zibritosky mentioned it is important to note that the hiring of these law firms leading up to this lawsuit is on a contingency basis, therefore it will not cost the city any money out of pocket.

Councilman John Pribonic said anything that can be done to secure a better future and protect Stow’s residents is well worth it. “I’d like to really applaud our lawmakers and our city forces.”

The Summit County state of emergency was declared just one day before President Trump declared the opioid crisis a National Public Health Emergency.

“This lawsuit will not be easy and it will not be quick, but I do believe it is necessary and most importantly I believe it will be impactful to our community,” Zibritosky said.