Associated Press Published

West Virginia Newspaper Seeks Records on Pill Shipments

gavel

A Boone County judge has scheduled a hearing later this month on a request by the Charleston Gazette-Mail to unseal court documents about prescription pill shipments in a lawsuit involving drug wholesalers.

The newspaper reports it asked Boone County Circuit Judge William Thompson to unseal the records from 11 drug-shipping companies, which are fighting to keep the records secret.

Thompson has scheduled a hearing for April 21 hearing on the request.

The newspaper says the public has the right to see the specific allegations in the state’s lawsuit.

The 2012 lawsuit was filed by then-Attorney General Darrell McGraw. It alleges the distributors’ negligent practices have helped fuel the state’s pain pill abuse epidemic.