Several major Nevada cities and counties are taking a wait-and-see approach to potential litigation against pharmaceutical opioid manufacturers, even as the city of Reno and Clark County consider filing lawsuits against major drug companies.

A handful of cities and counties in Nevada’s most densely populated areas told The Nevada Independent that they were reviewing or considering filing lawsuits against the manufacturers of prescription opioids, even as Attorney General Adam Laxalt has warned Reno officials that filing a separate suit could jeopardize a multistate opioid investigation.

Laxalt and Reno mayor Hillary Schieve have spent the last several weeks publicly arguing over the best jurisdiction for a lawsuit — the Republican attorney general sent a letter warning her efforts could “unintentionally undermine” participation in a 41-state case against a handful of opioid distributors and manufacturers, while Schieve has blamed Laxalt for “pitting Nevadans against Nevadans” on the issue.

That battle hasn’t deterred Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak — a Democrat running against Laxalt in the 2018 gubernatorial race — who said he scheduled a meeting this week with an outside attorney to go over legal options for the county and any potential lawsuit against opioid manufacturers. He disagreed with Laxalt’s assessment that the state had the primary standing to go after opioid manufacturers.

“The initial evidence that I have seen, that was presented to me when I had this discussion initially, was that it’s more productive to do it under the local jurisdiction than on a statewide basis,” he said.

Nevada has been hard-hit by opioid abuse and overdoses — the state has the fourth-highest drug overdose mortality rate, 20.7 per 100,000 residents in 2010, and the state’s doctors write 94 painkiller prescriptions for every 100 residents. The CDC counted 619 drug-overdose deaths in the state in 2015

Sisolak said that he had contacted a different private attorney than the one being considered by Reno, and would have to make a “legal calculation” based on input from the Clark County District Attorney’s office before taking action.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office did not return request for comment. In his letter to Schieve, Laxalt argued that state law reserved the right to sue under deceptive trade practices to the attorney general, and that cities and counties would need to employ “novel” legal theories in any potential lawsuits.

Schieve told The Nevada Independent on Monday that she hopes to schedule a special meeting of the City Council to vote on authorizing the lawsuit sometime in December. Las Vegas trial attorney Peter Wetherall gave a presentation on potential litigation options to city council members two weeks ago.

Washoe County Commission Chairman Bob Lucey said Monday that he applauded Schieve for her efforts and had also been in talks with outside attornies to represent the city in a potential suit. Lucey, who said he had also spoken to commissioners in rural Humboldt, Lincoln and Nye counties about the issue, stressed that the county hadn't made a final decision on which course of action to take.

"It’s kind of an ongoing conversation at this point, but no decision has been made," he said.

The city of Henderson has not been contacted by Schieve over joining the suit, but city spokesman David Cherry said the city has contacted outside attorneys and that the issue is “currently under review” with the city attorney.

Julie Duewel, a spokeswoman for Sparks, said the city’s attorney was reviewing the possibility of filing or joining a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers amid the actions taken by Schieve, but that only the most preliminary steps had been taken at this point.

Delen Goldberg, a spokeswoman for the city of North Las Vegas, said that jurisdiction hasn’t been contacted about joining the suit but was open to any solutions to the opioid crisis.

“That said, our city leaders think the increase in opioid abuse is a terrible problem, and they'd certainly be in favor of discussing any possible solutions,” she said in an email.

Las Vegas city spokesman Jace Radke said the city was not considering a lawsuit at the present time.

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