News show seeks unsealing of opioid documents

NORMAN — CBS News is asking a j udge to unseal documents i n Oklahoma's lawsuit against opioid manufacturers that relate to Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and Cephalon Inc.

“CBS News is particularly interested in documents pertaining to Cephalon and Teva's marketing, sales and promotions of opioids,” the producer of the television news magazine “60 Minutes” said in a motion filed Friday in Cleveland County District Court.

Like many news organizations, “60 Minutes” has been extensively covering the national opioid crisis that resulted in nearly 400,000 opioid-related deaths from 1999-2017.

Teva and its subsidiary, Cephalon, were initially among more than a dozen opioid manufacturers that Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter accused of

helping cause the opioid epidemic through false and deceptive marketing campaigns that downplayed risks of overdose and addiction while overstating therapeutic benefits.

Teva and Cephal on were among a group of related companies that entered into a settlement agreement shortly before the start of the trial. They agreed to pay $85 million and were dismissed from the lawsuit.

Another group of opioid ma nu facturers headed by Purdue Pharma earlier entered into a separate $270 million settlement deal.

The remaining defendants, headed by Johnson & Johnson, recently went through a nonjury trial before Cleveland County District Judge Th ad Balkman. Closing arguments were completed July 15 and a verdict is expected in late August or early September. The state is asking for more than $17.5 billion to abate the crisis.

Throughout pretrial proceedings, Te va, Cephalon and other parties to the lawsuit filed a number of items under seal.

“Although the parties have designated documents as confidential, there appears to be no judicial deter min ati on that the records — which but for the parties' designation would be public records — need to remain sealed,” CBS said in its court pleading. “CBS News seeks to intervene in this case to obtain access to some of those sealed documents for which protection is no longer—or has never been — valid or necessary.”

CBS said it believes unsealing the documents could “further the publ i c's understanding of the pivotal role played by the defendant manufacturers in the explosion of the opioid epidemic.”

A 70-page Actiq 2003 marketing plan, sealed motions filed by attorneys and transcripts of hearings are among many documents CBS is asking the judge to make public.

Teva and Cephal on will be given a chance to respond to CBS' request to intervene and a hearing will likely be held before a decision is rendered.

The request is not expected to delay Judge Balkman's verdict in the case against Johnson & Johnson.