Pubdate: Mon, 28 Mar 2005
Source: Charleston Daily Mail (WV)
Copyright: 2005 Charleston Daily Mail
Contact:  http://www.dailymail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/76
Author: Matthew Thompson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

PRIVATE LAWYERS POCKET $3.3 MILLION

Private lawyers will pocket $3.3 million of the state's $10 million 
settlement with the manufacturer of the potent painkiller OxyContin, 
according to an order on file in McDowell County Circuit Court.

In 2001, Attorney General Darrell McGraw sued Purdue Pharma, claiming the 
giant pharmaceutical company had engaged in deceitful marketing practices.

McGraw's office contended Purdue Pharma withheld information about 
OxyContin's addictiveness in an effort to boost sales.

In December 2004, on the eve of a trial before Judge Booker Stephens in 
Welch, the company settled the case for $10 million.

The court order stipulates that Purdue Pharma is to pay the attorney 
general's office four installments of $2.5 million. The first payment 
arrived in December. The others are due on Dec. 15 of 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The order also mandates that about $1.6 million from this year's payment is 
to go to the private counsel that McGraw's office selected to handle the case.

Payments of $416,666 each were designated for four firms: DiTrapano Barrett 
& DiPiero of Charleston; Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, which has 
offices in Chicago, Washington, New York and Philadelphia; William S. 
Druckman; and G. David Brumfield.

Each of the firms is scheduled to receive a payment of $208,333 on Dec. 20, 
2005, and Dec. 20, 2006.

The order also directs that $365,509 should go to Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld 
& Toll for expenses incurred in preparing the case. DiTrapano Barrett & 
DiPiero were to get $12,823 for expenses, and G. David Brumfield $7,503.

Meanwhile, the attorney general's office has begun disbursing money from 
the settlement.

Fran Hughes, who is McGraw's chief deputy, said $400,000 will be given to 
day reporting centers throughout the state this year, including $50,000 for 
Kanawha County's center.

The centers, which emphasize drug therapy and job training, are part of an 
alternative sentencing program for non-violent offenders. The purposes of 
the center are to rehabilitate offenders and to avoid the skyrocketing cost 
of keeping them in regional jails.

"We chose the day reporting centers because many people are there because 
of drug offenses," Hughes said. "With this money, we hope they can get the 
treatment they need to overcome their addiction."

Hughes said that over the next three years, $2.1 million from OxyContin 
settlement would be given to various state and county programs each year. 
Day reporting centers were selected because they conform to the 
settlement's terms, she said.

"The settlement states that the money we receive each year has to be put 
into law enforcement, drug treatment or medical education," Hughes said. 
"Every year we will meet with the governor's office or the Legislature to 
review what programs the money should go to."

Kanawha County Commissioner Hoppy Shores said the $50,000 grant will be 
seed money for the local reporting center. The commission also has applied 
for a $480,000 grant from the state Division of Criminal Justice.

Shores said the cost of keeping repeat drug offenders in the regional jail 
has become too burdensome. It's now $48.50 a day, up from $35 a decade ago.

"The drug causes the damage that puts them in the jails," Shores said. "We 
just want to provide the education to correct the problem."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom