Drug companies want gag order against Ohio Governor-elect Mike DeWine and lawyers because of '60 Min

Drug companies want gag order against Ohio Governor-elect Mike DeWine and lawyers because of ’60 Minutes' opioid piece


CLEVELAND, Ohio – Several large drug companies named in lawsuits over the nation’s opioid epidemic asked a federal judge in Cleveland to sanction Ohio Attorney General and Governor-elect Mike DeWine and two other lawyers for statements they made about the cases on a recent episode of CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

The motion filed Friday says statements made by DeWine and attorneys Mike Moore and Burton LeBlanc were part of a “concerted campaign” by lawyers representing state and local governments “to taint potential jury pools … through misleading, inflammatory, and improper public statements.”

Their statements came in a segment that aired on a Dec. 16 episode of “60 Minutes” about the opioid litigation. The piece, hosted by correspondent Bill Whitaker, touched on topics ranging from potential damages to what a set of data collected by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration showed about the number of pills that flowed into cities and states across the country.

The motion was filed by attorneys for several drug manufacturers and distributors, including Ohio-based Cardinal Health, Endo, AmerisourceBergen and Purdue Pharma.

Read more: https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2019/01/drug-companies-want-gag-order-against-ohio-governor-elect-mike-dewine-and-lawyers-because-of-60-minutes-opioid-piece.html