Steven W. Taylor, a retired Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, has been named a special master to try and work out a dispute between state lawmakers and the state attorney general over a pending $85 millionsettlement agreement between the state of Oklahoma and opioid maker Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.
Last week, Gov. Kevin Stitt and leaders of the Oklahoma House and Senate filed an amicus brief in Cleveland County District Court demanding that the proceeds be paid into the Oklahoma state treasury in accordance with a new state law. In their legal brief, Stitt, House Speaker Charles McCall and Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat argue that the Oklahoma Legislature gets to decide how the money will be spent.
That approach conflicts with the position taken last week in court by Michael Burrage, one of the outside attorneys assisting Attorney General Mike Hunter in ongoing litigation against opioid manufacturers.
Burrage argued that the money should go into an escrow account controlled by the court and that the judge should oversee how that money, along with any money that might be awarded in an ongoing trial with Johnson & Johnson, would be used to abate problems caused by the opioid epidemic.
District Judge Thad Balkman on Monday granted Hunter and Teva attorneys 15 days to file formal responses to requests to intervene in the case that were filed by the governor, Legislature and a group of cities and towns.
In the meantime, Balkman said he wanted them all to work with former Chief Justice Taylor to see if they could come to an agreement about how the money should be handled.
Hunter told the judge he was working to find a way to harmonize his responsibilities to the governor, Legislature and the judiciary and come up with a solution.
“My hope would be that we can secure the funds in an expeditious manner,” he said.
Teva was the second major opioid manufacturer to announce a settle agreement in the case. Another group of opioid manufacturers headed by Purdue Pharma earlier agreed to pay $270 million to settle its part of the lawsuit.
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