Kentucky Senate president seeks investigation of Purdue Pharma settlement

Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers wants the state legislature to take the unusual step of hiring an investigating counsel to review Kentucky’s controversial 2015 settlement with drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma.

He said Tuesday at a news conference in the Capitol Annex that on Jan. 7, the first day of the 2020 General Assembly, he will file a measure to direct a comprehensive investigation of the settlement. He could not recall the legislature ever hiring such counsel. He has been in the legislature since 1997.

Stivers, R-Manchester, said it is apparent Kentucky was “shortchanged” in the settlement by receiving $24 million while Oklahoma this year settled with the OxyContin maker for $270 million.

Stivers said the legislature would hire either an individual or law firm with experience in criminal and complex civil litigation who will be fair, impartial and non-political to conduct the investigation that could be completed in six to eight months.

The investigator would have subpoena powers and would issue a report of its findings, including any criminal referrals deemed necessary and any recommendations for further civil litigation, said Stivers.

House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, was supportive of Stivers in an email.

“A number of questions have been raised since details of the most recent opioid settlement became public. I think the people of Kentucky have a right to know if their elected officials were indeed acting in their best interest when they settled for such a significantly lower amount in 2015,” Osborne said. “There appear to be some very salient issues with what motivated our former attorney general to settle and what role our current attorney general played in the settlement.”

“It is time we got answers,” said Stivers. “Who decided on the $24 million. The people of Kentucky deserve better.”

The Purdue Pharma settlement has become an issue in this year’s race for governor between Republican incumbent Matt Bevin and Attorney General Andy Beshear.

Bevin has asked whether the settlement was a good deal while Beshear has said he was not involved with the settlement.

Beshear worked for the Louisville-based law firm of Stites & Harbison that represented the state before he was elected attorney general in December 2015.

Kentucky’s lawsuit was started by Attorney General Greg Stumbo more than 10 years ago. It accused Purdue Pharma of misleading the public about the addictiveness of the powerful prescription drug. Purdue Pharma settled with the state four years ago under then-Attorney General Jack Conway.

Beshear’s campaign manager, Eric Hyers, said in an email that Beshear was not involved in the settlement.

“Six weeks before Election Day, this is a shameless political stunt that shows how worried Matt Bevin is about his weak and failing campaign,” Hyers said. “Andy Beshear played no role in the Purdue settlement whatsoever. In administering the settlement, the office of the attorney general followed the budget instructions passed by Sen. Stivers in the legislature and signed by Matt Bevin, as well as the written instructions from Matt Bevin’s administration —and there are even emails to prove it.”

Stumbo, who is running this year again for attorney general, said Stivers’ news conference “is tainted by partisan politics and cannot be taken for anything other than a totally ridiculous stunt just six weeks before an election in a desperate attempt to prop up Matt Bevin’s failing campaign.”

He added, “Republicans are clearly worried that they’re running against leaders like Attorney General Andy Beshear and myself, who have strong records of taking on the big drug companies.”

Stumbo recently told the Courier Journal that he would not have settled with Purdue Pharma and would have asked for a jury trial.

Conway, who lost a bid for governor against Bevin in 2015 and now works in the Louisville law firm Dolt Thompson, Shepherd and Kinney, which received about $4.2 million of Kentucky’s $24 million settlement for its work in the case, said he would be glad to answer any questions about the settlement.

“I have nothing to hide,” he said in a phone interview. “When we settled, it was the largest settlement of any of the states. West Virginia got $10 million.”

Conway said Oklahoma and other states now are receiving larger settlements because they have regulations stronger than Kentucky’s to protect consumers.

He said he has told Stivers that he would answer any of his questions, “but I’ve never been called by him. This is getting frustrating because it’s getting political.”

Stivers was asked why he is calling for a special investigation of the settlement six weeks before the Nov. 5 election.

He said the Oklahoma settlement and a recent Courier Journal article about Kentucky’s settlement raised questions about it. He said he has not talked to Bevin about his plan.

“I’m not saying anything other than all of these questions need to be answered,” said Stivers.

This story was originally published September 24, 2019 at 7:31 PM.