Traverse City commissioners unanimously agreed Monday to join other municipalities - including Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties - in signing on to a federal class-action lawsuit suing drug manufacturers over costs related to the opioid epidemic.

Commissioners voted to retain a legal team comprised of local, state and national attorneys – including Traverse City-based Smith Johnson, Farmington Hills’ Bernstein Law Firm, and New York City’s Weitz & Luxenberg – in a lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. The lawsuit alleges that the targeted companies aggressively pushed the sale of highly addictive narcotic drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin, methadone, codeine, morphine, and fentanyl to consumers despite knowing the dangers they posed. Plaintiffs won't pay any upfront legal fees but will share 30 percent of the recovered damages with attorneys if the lawsuit is successful.

Commissioners expressed their interest not only in attempting to recover costs caused locally by the opioid epidemic - such as emergency room visits, treatment programs, addiction and mental health counseling, law enforcement response and training, court cases, and child protective services - but in sending a deterring message to pharmaceutical companies through the lawsuit.