BATH -- Steuben County legislators unanimously approved Monday joining a nationwide class action suit against 20 pharmaceutical companies alleging price fixing, market division, and other antitrust violations related to 15 generic prescription drugs. The legislators, meeting in regular session at 10 a.m., approved retaining counsel to go forward with the lawsuit on Steuben’s behalf. Compensation will be paid out of the proceeds of any award decided by the court.
Steuben, like many counties in New York, is self-insured for employee health care expenses, and administers a workers’ compensation group for itself and participating municipalities in the county. The county programs have direct expenses for the 15 generic drugs at the heart of the class action lawsuit.
In other action Monday, the county board also approved additional funding for a study on algae blooms in the Keuka Lake watershed. The study is in the second year of a three-year project through the Keuka Lake Association (KLA) to sample key streams for pollutants and develop a nine-point plan to prevent the harmful blooms in the lake and surrounding bodies of water. The cost of the $5,200 study will be split between Steuben and Yates counties, with Steuben's $2,600 share paid through the county Economic Development Fund. County legislators also:
· Accepted state Extreme Winter Recovery Funding for use in county road repair and maintenance work.
· Agreed to the required New York State Department of Environmental Conservation review of the closed landfill in Wayland.
