MONTICELLO, NY — The Sullivan County Legislature voted unanimously on May 18 to approve a lawsuit against manufacturers and others involved in the production and distribution of opioid medications that have increasingly resulted in addiction, overdoses and death.

The resolution said that the litigation targeted companies and others who “over-prescribed opioid medications that caused increased emergency room admissions, increased opioid overdoses, increased Medicaid costs, and increased law enforcement costs.”

With the vote, Sullivan becomes the fifth county in New York State to pursue such legal action. The others are Orange, Suffolk, Broome, and Erie counties.

The county will enter an agreement with the law firm of Simmons Hanly Conroy, LLC (SHC) to pursue the lawsuit. The resolution and a related press release from the county did not name which companies would be targeted, but Orange County also is pursuing an agreement with SHC and that county is going after companies that include Purdue Pharma Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., Cephalon Corporation; Johnson & Johnson; Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Endo Health Solutions Inc. The Orange action will also target four local doctors.

Legislator Alan Sorensen was the member pushing for the lawsuit. He said, “The time is long overdue to hold the pharmaceutical companies accountable for their role in creating the opioid addiction crisis.”

“After seeing Gov. Cuomo’s comprehensive report on the opioid overdoses of medications, this is a movement heading in the right direction,” Luis Alvarez, chairman of the county legislature, said, “I fully stand behind the unanimous decision that the legislature made today and support all the other counties on this task,” continued Alvarez.

Sullivan County has long been recognized as having a more acute problem with opioid addiction than other counties in the state, with District Attorney Jim Farrell reporting as early as March 2014 that Sullivan had the highest rate of Oxycodone prescriptions in the state. When the patients could no longer obtain prescriptions for legal opioids they often turned to heroin.

“In regards to the addictions and deaths we have seen in the county lately due to opioid abuse, we need to hold the pharmaceuticals [that are] responsible for formulating and manufacturing these pain medications accountable,” said Legislator Nadia Rajsz, chair of the Health & Family Services Committee.

County Manager Joshua Potosek last month declared the opioid epidemic a health crisis and the legislature ordered the creation of the Opioid Epidemic Task Force.

“We are tackling the national opioid epidemic from many angles with the creation of the opioid task force, public education and law enforcement and now with a multi-county lawsuit against various manufactures of prescription opiates,” said Legislator Terri Ward, chair of the Public Safety and Law Enforcement Committee. “We will continue to do all we can in the county, from a public safety perspective, to combat the tragedies this epidemic has caused.”