County to Join Class Action Lawsuit against Pharmaceutical Companies

At the February 2 meeting, the Putnam County Legislature unanimously passed legislation authorizing County Attorney Carl Lodes to join the counties of Rockland, Westchester, Suffolk, Broome, Rennselear and Onondaga in a class action lawsuit against a number of pharmaceutical companies that have allegedly been engaged in artificially inflating the price of prescription drugs sold in New York State by manipulating the Average Wholesale Price (AVP) upon which Medicaid reimbursement is based.

"There has been a whole scandal that is costing the taxpayers much more money because the pharmaceutical companies negotiate prices upfront," Legislator Vinny Tamagna said in an interview on Monday. "We are seeking reimbursement for the cost of those drugs. It’s a direct impact to our county budget."

"We believe when the litigation ends, the County will receive reimbursement from a settlement similar to what resulted from tobacco litigation," said Deputy County Executive Frank DelCampo, also interviewed on Monday. "We are on board with anything that will reduce Medicaid cost to the County."

The resolution will allow the County to hire the law firm of Kirby, McInerney & Squire, LLP of New York City, which is leading the fight against the industry. To gauge the magnitude of the problem, Medicaid premiums will account for forty-six cents of every dollar spent by the county this year.

In an 8 to 1 vote, Legislators approved a partnership initiative with the Village of Cold Spring, promising $8,000 toward the village’s K-9 proposal. The grant will pay for half of the cost of a police officer to replace Officer Darrel Burris, who will attend a K-9 training class for several weeks this spring. Legislator Tony Hay voted against the measure, saying that in light of the fact that the County was currently restricting overtime funding for county departments, including the Sheriff’s Department, he thought it would be unfair to approve the payment for Cold Spring.

The board did approve unanimously a $5,600 partnership agreement with the Town of Philipstown for the purchase of three defibrillators to be placed in town facilities.

Legislators approved of the 2005 grant recipients recommended by the Putnam Arts Council. Grants will total $8,000.

The North Highland Road project in Philipstown will be able to go ahead now that Legislators approved the payment of $70,580 to property owners Ernest and Nathan Lyons for payments in return for temporary easements over their properties. The project, which will straighten out access onto Route 9 from Fishkill Road, will now go through the bidding process and is expected to begin in the late spring.

A $775,000 bond issuance was approved for the purchase of a 152 acre parcel in the Town of Patterson known as Camp Herrlich. The County is buying the property to save it from development. An additional $200,000 of the cost of the $1.475 purchase price will be covered by state grants. The Legislature also declared itself Lead Agency with regard to the purchase of the property and approved its designation as parkland.

The board also approved of the use of $20,000 in East of Hudson funds for the purchase of 94.3 acres in the Town of Patterson, which will be added to the Tilly Foster Conservation Area. The property was also declared as public park land.

Also approved was a measure allowing the county recording officer to receive $197,322 annually for expenses incurred in the processing of mortgage taxes. A related budgetary amendment moving the revenue lines for this tax under the purview of the County Clerk’s office, rather than with the Finance Department was passed. That tax revenue for this provision, which was passed last October, is estimated to be $500,000 for 2005. However, the enabling state legislation that is required was stalled in last year’s session in Albany because state lawmakers received conflicting messages from county officials as to their support of the measure. According to the County Executive, that issue has been resolved and the state legislature is expected to approve the measure this year. If it does not happen to make it onto their agenda, there could be a $500,000 shortfall in this year’s budget.

Two settlements of lawsuits were approved. Paul Burnside, a claimant in a personal injury action against the County was awarded $10,000 in settlement of his claim. Another $10,000 was approved to settle a property claim dispute with West Branch Realty Corp.

The following budgetary amendments were approved: $45,000 for the purchase of a mini-bus by the Office of the Aging, $35,000 of which will be covered by a Salvation Army Grant, the remaining will come out of contingency; $22,862 to account for decreases in New York State Funding for Youth Bureau related programs, with no fiscal impact for 2004; $43,060 for the Sheriff’s Department for temporary help with communication and dispatching, with no fiscal impact; and 2004 year end adjustments made by the Commissioner of Finance with a -$530,365 fiscal impact resulting from Judgments and Claims.

The following fund transfers were approved: $26,205 for Social Services to comply with state aid letter for 2004; $11,190 for Social Services for a part-time attorney; and $136,000 for Social Services to cover projected year end expenses. All had no fiscal impact for 2004.

A petty cash line of $100 was approved for the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The County executive was authorized to sign a contract with an actuarial firm for services related to the County’s post retirement benefit plan.

The board approved of the sale of county property that had previously been offered in the annual County Property Sale and received no bids as follows: a parcel in Kent to JUHI, Inc for $588; a parcel in Kent to Myrtis Stewart for $863; and a parcel in Southeast to Myrtis Stewart for $435.

The following appointments were made: Denis Castelli and Amy Campanero of Southeast to the Tilly Foster Farm Advisory Board; and Peter Pryschlak of Carmel to the Putnam County Plumbing and Mechanical Trades Board.

The next full meeting of the Putnam County Legislature will be held on Tuesday, March 1 at 7:00 pm in the County Court House in Carmel.