OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma wants say in release of records in W.Va. court

OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma is asking a West Virginia judge to keep thousands of court records secret until the company’s lawyers have a chance to review the documents and say which ones should remain hidden from the public.

The court documents were filed two decades ago as part of a class-action lawsuit against Purdue. The entire court file remains sealed and the records are being kept in storage in Putnam County.

In a filing this week, Purdue told Putnam County Circuit Judge Philip Stowers that some of the records — including videos and tape recordings — may be “commercially sensitive.” The company filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and recently pleaded guilty to federal charges over its role in sparking the opioid epidemic.

Last month, HBO, The Washington Post and a documentary film company filed a motion in Putnam County to unseal the Purdue Pharma records from the 2001 lawsuit that accused the drug manufacturer of failing to supervise the use of its highly-addictive painkiller OxyContin. The drug was being diverted to the black market, and West Virginians were overdosing and dying in record numbers. The case was settled for an undisclosed amount in 2007.

Read more: https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2021/01/28/oxycontin-maker-purdue-pharma-wants-say-in-release-of-records-in-w-va-court/