Riverhead Town will file a federal lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors in the hope of recovering costs resulting from coping with the regional opioid epidemic.
The town board Tuesday authorized the supervisor to sign a retention agreement with the Hempstead law firm Tate Grossman Kelly & Iaccarino, a litigation group formed specifically to help municipalities, union health and pension funds, healthcare organizations and other businesses recover damages caused by the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and distribute opioid narcotics.
“Municipalities and other organizations have had to dedicate substantial resources to develop programs and train personnel, purchase overdose medication, pay overtime for first responders and other staff, and absorb unnecessary increases in medical/healthcare costs – not to mention the related losses of productivity,” the law firm says on its website.
A Fiscal Policy Institute report released in September said Long Island suffered $8.2 billion in economic damages from the opioid crisis in 2017 alone, equating to 4.5% of the island’s gross domestic product. The opioid crises caused Long Island an estimated 8.4 billion in economic damage in 2016, according to the report.
Riverhead Town is opting out of class-action litigation available to most municipalities and will join multi-district litigation pending in federal court. The town will file its lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and it will then be transferred to the Northern District of Ohio, where all opioid cases — some 2,500 altogether — have been consolidated in the National Prescription Opiate Litigation before Judge Dan Aaron Polster.
The judge in a written order entered Tuesday, said he would preside over a “bellwether” case in which two Ohio counties sued some of the largest pharmacy chains in the country, including CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid, among others.
Tate Grossman Kelly & Iaccarino is working a contingency fee basis, meaning the firm is not compensated unless the town recovers damages on behalf of the town. Then it will receive compensation of 25% of the gross amount recovered for the town, plus certain expenses.
New York State and the counties of Suffolk and Nassau have sued a group of drug manufacturers and distributors in State Supreme Court in Suffolk County. The judge in that case has set a Jan. 20 trial date.
Suffolk County has been at or near the top of counties statewide for the highest number of opioid overdose deaths each year for several years running.
According to data provided by the Riverhead Town Police Department, police have responded to 35 nonfatal overdoses in 2019 so far. There have been five overdose deaths reported by Riverhead police this year to date.
The survival of local journalism depends on your support.
We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community.
Support RiverheadLOCAL today.
