A Court Battle Over Purdue Pharma L.P. Documents

Should one of the states that was involved in the investigation into Purdue Pharma and its notorious OxyContin painkiller withhold documents used to prosecute the drugmaker and three current and former executives? The question will be the subject of a hearing tomorrow in Massachusetts, where state Attorney General Martha Coakley has refused to release reams of pertinent paperwork. At issue are countless documents that were compiled by the US Department of Justice, which charged Purdue and execs with misbranding - they facilitated improper use of the drug and misled patients, regulators and doctors about addictive risks. All totaled, $634 million in fines were paid, and the execs were barred from doing business with federal healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid (back story).