SARATOGA SPRINGS — The recent lawsuit filed by Saratoga County against pharmaceutical companies will for the time being be consolidated with dozens of other similar actions in New York, a lawyer representing several Capital Region counties said.

Joseph Ciaccio, an attorney with Mahattan-based Napoli Shknolnik PLLC, said Tuesday that the firm is representing more than 20 counties in New York, some of whom have not yet formally taken legal action "but will be filing very soon."

Besides Saratoga, he said Rensselaer county has also filed suit and that Warren and Schoharie counties are "in the process" of doing it.

Ciaccio said that for the time being the civil cases are being "coordinated with one judge in Suffolk County," which is different from a class action suit that would have consolidated them. The Suffolk County jurist was selected to oversee the cases because that's where the first lawsuit in New York against the pharmaceuticals was filed and that individual was familiar with these type of cases, said Ciaccio.

"Every county has their own individual case because every counties' damages and case may be slightly different, but in order to make it easier to handle all these cases, both on the plaintiffs and defendants, there's a law in place in New York that allows for the coordination of cases," said Ciaccio. "They'll be joined as one case for now in terms of handling all the preliminary process and discovery and then the plan would be that if the cases do eventually go trial, they'll be separated back to each individual county."

He said they are seeking compensatory damages from five major drug manufacturers and three big distributors across the country and few in the state.

Defendants named in the suit include Purdue Pharma L.P., Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., American Medical Distributors, Inc. and Everyday Wholesale Drugs, Ltd.

The suit alleges that brand name prescription opioids include Oxycontin and Percocet and generics like oxycodone and hydrocodone are "addictive and subject to abuse."

"The U.S. is now awash in opioids," the complaints state, adding the drugs in 2012 generated $8 billion in revenue for drug companies.

In many instances, the language in complaints filed on behalf of Saratoga and Rensselaer counties by the law firm is identical.

It states in part that "this case is about one thing: corporate greed" where defendants "put their desire for profits above the health and well-being of ... consumers at the cost of plaintiff" and that they spent millions of dollars annually to provide and pay for health care, pharmaceutical care and other necessary services and programs for needy residents on the prescription of opioids manufactured, marketed, promoted, sold, and distributed by the defendants.

The complaint also contends that in 2014 the number of opioid-related overdoses rose faster in New York that any other state in the nation.

That same year, there were 345 opioid-related emergency admissions in Rensselaer county, a 67.5 percent increase from 2010.

In 2014, Saratoga County recorded 366 opioid-related emergency department admissions, up nearly 18 percent from 2010.

Ed Kinowski, Saratoga Board of Supervisors chairman, views the problem in his community as an epidemic that has taken a heavy toll on the community.

"We're looking for damages because it's putting an undue stress on all our agencies, from mental health to social health to public health to our sheriff's department, not only at the county level but at the township level," he said.

He said the problem is so widespread that it affects people from all walks of life and that elected officials need to do their part to curtail the problem.

"The opioid use is systemic across all age groups, all income levels, and whether you're a suburbanite or a city dweller or a country dweller, it doesn't matter," said Kinowski.

"The use of pain medicines and the illicit drugs is huge and we need to combat them."