Opioid Lawsuits Filed by 9 N.Y. Counties Transferred, Assigned to Single Judge in Suffolk County

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — Lawsuits filed by nine New York Counties alleging that drug makers have, for years, misrepresented the dangers of prescription opioids will be transferred to a single state court justice in Suffolk County, according to an order issued July 18.

Justice C. Randall Hinrichs, the Administrative Judge in Suffolk County, said in the one-page order that cases pending in Broome, Dutchess, Erie, Nassau, Orange, Seneca, Schenectady and Sullivan counties will join an identical case already pending in Suffolk County. The resulting coordinated docket will be presided over by Justice Jerry Garguilo, the order says.

Justice Hinrichs said in …