A New York State judge ruled this week that various similar lawsuits that all seek reimbursement for costs associated with the opioid epidemic will move forward.
Nassau and Suffolk Counties and municipalities across the state claim drug manufacturers aggressively marketed opioids and hid their addictive nature. That includes the Stamford, Connecticut-based, OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma.
“They’ve had to divert all this money to deal with the opioid crisis, and that’s a crisis that they did not create. That the counties and cities did not create, but the drug industry created,” said attorney Paul Hanly, who represents New York City and other counties in the lawsuit.
The judge consolidated the cases and ordered that they continue despite objections from the drug manufacturers that the suits failed to show evidence of fraud.
The suits will return to their home counties for trials scheduled for September 2020.
