March 15, 2016: STAT files a legal motion in Kentucky, asking a judge to unseal documents that could provide new information on how Purdue marketed OxyContin. STAT’s lawyers argued that the public had a constitutional right to the records.
May 11, 2016: Pike County Circuit Judge Steven Combs orders the records to be made public. Purdue files an appeal a few days later, putting a hold on the release of the documents.
June 26, 2017: The Kentucky Court of Appeals hears oral arguments in the case. STAT argues that trial courts in Kentucky have great discretion to open their files and that this is a matter of enormous public interest. Purdue’s lawyer argues there is no common right of law “to pry into affairs of individual litigants.”
Dec. 14, 2018: Kentucky Court of Appeals rules in favor of STAT.
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