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."