Monroe County to sue Big Pharma over opioid epidemic

Monroe County plans to join scores of counties nationwide in suing pharmaceutical companies to recoup costs related to the opioid epidemic.

County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo announced Wednesday that the county has retained the law firm of Simmons Hanly Conry, which represents more than 100 counties, including many in New York, and is spearheading the effort.

The county has yet to file its lawsuit. Like all of the counties involved in such litigation, Monroe County's claim would be an individual effort and not part of a class-action.

“The opioid epidemic has taken a heartbreaking human toll in every corner of our community and has placed a significant financial burden on local taxpayers,” Dinolfo said in a prepared statement.

“Monroe County today joined a lawsuit against the makers, marketers, and distributors of opioids who fanned the flames of addiction across our nation,” she added. “We intend to hold these companies accountable for their actions in order to recoup costs for taxpayers and reinvest in increased prevention, treatment, and enforcement moving forward.”

The move was not unexpected. A county spokesman said in November that the county would soon announce its intention to sue.

Data on opioid-related deaths and overdoses in Monroe County in 2017 has yet to be released in its entirety.

In 2016, however, there were 118 deaths and 468 emergency department visits attributed to heroin and other opioid abuse, according to the state Health Department. Paramedics and law enforcement officials administered the opioid overdose-reversal drug Naloxone 634 times that year, according to the state.

Simmons Hanly Conroy has a national reputation for handling toxic exposure cases, including asbestos and mesothelioma.

There will be no cost to Monroe County to initiate the litigation. The law firm will receive 25 percent of any settlement or award delivered at trial, county spokesman Jesse Sleezer said.

Similar opioid cases the firm has handled accused the pharmaceutical companies of engaging in deceptive practices, fraud and false advertising that misled doctors and patients into believing that the highly-addictive prescription painkillers were safe.

DANDREATTA@Gannett.com