OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter is vowing to fight Purdue Pharma's recent attempt to transfer Oklahoma's lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company to an Ohio federal court and calling it an abuse of the legal system.
As Purdue Pharma recently filed for a notice of removal in the Oklahoma lawsuit, Hunter said he will file for a motion to remand so that the case can move ahead in Cleveland County.
“Purdue wants the case before a judge in Cleveland, Ohio, while we want it before a judge in Cleveland County, Oklahoma,” Hunter said in a statement. “This is just the latest move by a company that is terrified of a jury of Oklahomans hearing our case. Given the company’s past behavior, I am not surprised they would abuse the legal system by filing a frivolous notice of removal."
According to the Attorney General's Office, Purdue filed the notice of removal after the state requested depositions regarding the pharmaceutical company's political contributions to state officials and Purdue's ad in the New York Times published last year where the company promises to help fight the nation's opioid crisis.
“Our lawsuit seeks to make Purdue and their co-defendants answer for the thousands of lives that have been lost in Oklahoma, the families that have been ripped apart and the generation of addicts this nightmarish epidemic has created," Hunter said. "We will not be intimidated by these tactics."