In 2016, Pike Circuit Court Judge Steven Combs unsealed records compiled by the Office of the Attorney General in a decade long lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, manufacturer of OxyContin, for its role in marketing the highly additive painkiller.

https://www.statnews.com/2016/05/11/oxycontin-records-sought-stat-order…

In late 2015, then Attorney General Jack Conway had settled the case for $24 million. He also entered into an agreement with Purdue Pharma to seal his discovery files.

After the case was settled, the Boston Globe/STAT asked the Pike Circuit Court to unseal the attorney general's files.

In unsealing the files, Judge Combs wrote:

"The court sees no higher value than the public (via the media) having access to these discovery materials so that the public can see the facts for themselves,"

In an exhaustive analysis, the Court of Appeals affirmed Judge Combs' opinion in December 2018. The court reasoned that disclosure of the discovery files would enable the public to "assess whether the government's decision to compromise a valuable claim of the people adequately protected or maximized the claim's value."

http://opinions.kycourts.net/coa/2016-CA-000710.pdf

On August 21, 2019, the Kentucky Supreme Court denied Purdue Pharma's request for review of the Court of Appeals' 2018 opinion. The Court of Appeals' opinion is final and the Boston Globe/STAT's victory stands.

Representatives of the Boston Globe/STAT began retrieving and reviewing the previously sealed discovery files last week.

https://www.facebook.com/419650175248377/posts/503668983513162?sfns=mo

Among them is this August 2015 video deposition of Richard Sackler, president and co-chairman of Purdue Pharma. Although ProPublica obtained and published a transcript of the Sackler deposition in February, this is the our first opportunity to "see the facts" for ourselves.