CANTON — St. Lawrence County legislators have agreed to meet with an attorney about the possibility of joining a class action lawsuit against companies that manufacture opioids.

County Attorney Stephen D. Button said several months ago he was contacted by several firms involved in large-scale, multi-defendant opioid litigation.

“They were interested in gauging the county’s interest in pursuing similar litigation that’s already pending against drug manufacturers of prescription opioids,” he said.

After reviewing material from several law firms, Mr. Button said the firm Simmons, Hanly and Conroy seemed the best choice for discussing the matter. The national firm has multiple offices, including one in New York City.

“The litigation is premised on the theory that opioid drug manufacturers worked collectively to widely circulate marketing materials declaring opioids safe, despite contrary medical statistics and medical studies, and as such, these manufacturers have played a significant role in the current drug epidemic that is devastating counties across New York state and the rest of the country.”

So far, the firm is representing eight New York state counties including Suffolk, Erie, Broome, Orange, Dutchess, Seneca, Sullivan and Schenectady.

Mr. Button said pending cases brought by counties seek to recover costs counties have incurred fighting the opioid epidemic, including addiction, health treatment and criminal justice expenses.

Opioids are a diverse class of very strong painkillers, including oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl, which are synthesized to resemble opiates such as morphine and heroin. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, nearly half of all opioid overdose deaths in 2016 involved prescriptions.

A handful of county legislators have agreed to meet with attorney Paul J. Hanly Jr. at 4 p.m. Sept. 11 prior to the Legislature’s full monthly meeting.

Legislature Chairman Kevin D. Acres, R-Madrid, said he will attend that session, but, at this point, he’s not in favor of filing a lawsuit against companies that are manufacturing legal products.

He said he believes in “personal responsibility” as it relates to the issue of opioid addiction.

Legislature Vice Chairman Joseph R. Lightfoot, R-Ogdensburg, and Legislator John H. Burke, R-Norfolk, said they are interested in hearing the information from Mr. Hanly.

“It doesn’t mean we are going to sign on, but I think it behooves the Legislature to hear about these kinds of things, ” Mr. Lightfoot said. “People are dying because of the abuse of these drugs.”

He said the opioid epidemic carries not only a financial cost, but a social cost.

Mr. Burke said he expects that Mr. Hanly will present data that will help lawmakers determine the role drug manufacturers may have played in the opioid addiction problem.

“It may help us understand what big drug companies have done or not done,” he said. “We may or may not join forces, but it doesn’t hurt to listen.”

Mr. Button said the Simmons, Haly and Conroy firm is known for winning a $75 million settlement against Purdue Pharma and Abbott Laboraties for damages connected to prescription Oxycontin.

“At this point, we have not discussed a fee but the other counties that have been involved have been retaining the firms on a contingency fee basis, with no outlay of funds at the onset,” Mr. Button said.

Mr. Button said the material he’s read from several firms detail a systemic process in which manufacturers of opioid medications worked to deceive prescribing physicians in order to increase sales and develop a long-term client base.

“If true, this is an abhorrent practice that should be ceased and the culpable parties should be held responsible,” Mr. Button said. “Unfortunately, in my opinion, this is only one facet of the opioid problem and these lawsuits are unlikely to end the problem that opioid addiction has become for our county and many others.”

However, he said additional funding that may be used to expand addiction treatment may decrease costs associated with the county’s response, which alleviates the burden on the taxpayers.

The opioid epidemic or opioid crisis is the rapid increase in the use of prescription and non-prescription opioid drugs in the United States and Canada in the 2010s. Opioids are a diverse class of very strong painkillers, including oxycodone (commonly sold under the trade names OxyContin and Percocet), hydrocodone (Vicodin), and fentanyl, which are synthesized to resemble opiates such as opium-derived morphine and heroin. The potency and availability of these substances, despite their high risk of addiction and overdose, have made them popular both as formal medical treatments and as recreational drugs. Due to their sedative effects on the part of the brain which regulates breathing, opioids in high doses present the potential for respiratory depression and may cause respiratory failure and death.

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