The trial is next year, but a big fight is happening now in Oklahoma’s lawsuit blaming several drug companies for the state’s opioid epidemic.
Purdue Pharma wants the case moved from state to federal court and lumped in with many others around the country. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter has filed to keep the case here and requested an emergency hearing but said until the issue is decided, the case will effectively be on hold.
"It is clear to us that our case is their biggest fear in the country and they will do anything in their power to stop it or drag it out. And they should be afraid," Hunter said.
State’s lead counsel Michael Burrage said Purdue Pharma made the filing one day ahead of a scheduled deposition.
"They were going to have to produce a witness to swear under oath what political contributions they had made to candidates in Oklahoma. Then they filed the removal," Burrage said.
Burrage said Purdue is breaching a contract other companies named in the suit are not.
"All of them joined in the stipulation that the case was properly filed and that they wouldn’t remove it. It was every one of them, not just Purdue," Burrage said.
Attorneys for Purdue said Oklahoma’s claims in the lawsuit can’t be separated from federal issues in dispute.
Oklahoma's lawsuit accuses drug companies of misleading the public about opioid painkillers, contributing to an addiction epidemic and causing billions of dollars in damages. Cephalon, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Allergan and several of their subsidiaries are also named in the lawsuit.
