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Ordinance#230688Passed
In plain English

The ordinance authorizes a settlement of nearly $12.9 million from Allergan related to a lawsuit over misleading opioid marketing and distribution practices that contributed to the opioid crisis in San Francisco. The settlement allocates funds for the City, outside counsel, and the City Attorney's Office over a five-year period.

Ordinance authorizing settlement of the lawsuit filed by the City and County of San Francisco and the People of the State of California against Allergan Finance, LLC (f/k/a Actavis, Inc., which, in turn, was f/k/a Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) and Allergan Limited (f/k/a Allergan plc, which, in turn, was f/k/a Actavis plc) for $12,916,274 (the City to be paid $10,156,889 over 5 years, the City’s outside counsel to be paid $1,585,179, and the City Attorney’s Office to be paid $1,174,206); directing the Controller to allocate funds to the City Attorney’s Office as provided in the settlement agreement; the lawsuit was filed on December 18, 2018, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Case No. 3:18-cv-7591-CRB-JSC; entitled The City and County of San Francisco and the People of the State of California v. Purdue Pharma L.P., Richard S. Sackler, Jonathan D. Sackler, Mortimer D.A. Sackler, Kathe A. Sackler, Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, Beverly Sackler, Theresa Sackler, David A. Sackler, Trust for the Benefit of Members of the Raymond Sackler Family, Rhodes Pharmaceuticals L.P., Cephalon, Inc., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Endo International Plc, Endo Health Solutions Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Insys Therapeutics, Inc., Mallinckrodt Plc, Mallinckrodt LLC, Allergan Plc f/k/a Actavis Plc, Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. n/k/a Actavis, Inc., Watson Laboratories, Inc., Actavis LLC, Actavis Pharma, Inc. f/k/a Watson Pharma, Inc., AmerisourceBergen Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc., and McKesson Corporation; the lawsuit involves allegations that the Allergan defendants created a public nuisance and violated the Unfair Competition Law by falsely and misleadingly marketing opioids as safer than they actually are and distributing increasingly large volumes of opioids in and around San Francisco despite knowledge of the growing epidemic caused by opioid misuse, and by failing to prevent and report suspicious opioid orders as required by state and federal law.

Introduced: Jun 13, 2023
Final action: Sep 15, 2023
Official record ↗

How it got here

Document trail
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How they voted

PASSED ON FIRST READING
Board of Supervisors · Sep 5, 2023Pass
5-0
RECOMMENDED
Government Audit and Oversight Committee · Jul 20, 2023Pass
1-0 /1

Legislative journey

Clerk of the BoardMay 26, 2023
·RECEIVED FROM DEPARTMENT
PresidentJun 13, 2023
RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED
Government Audit and Oversight CommitteeJul 20, 2023
RECOMMENDEDPass
Board of SupervisorsSep 5, 2023 – Sep 12, 2023
PASSED ON FIRST READINGPass
FINALLY PASSEDPass
MayorSep 15, 2023
APPROVED