NORMAN – Attorney General Mike Hunter today commended Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman for ruling in the state’s favor, avoiding a delay in the state’s trial against the nation’s leading manufacturers of opioid pain medication.
Today’s ruling was in response to a motion by the defendants, asking the judge to delay the start of the trial for 100 days. With the judge’s ruling, the trial remains on schedule to begin May 28.
“I applaud the ruling by Judge Balkman to continue moving this case forward,” Attorney General Hunter said. “This ruling keeps our case on track for the May trial date where our attorneys will present the facts to Oklahomans. The team has worked tirelessly, taking hundreds of depositions and reading through millions of pages of documents. In the months ahead, we are going to continue this thorough preparation in order to present our case. We remain steadfast in our mission to ending this nightmarish epidemic and the ravages the opioid epidemic has left in its wake in Oklahoma.”