(LEX 18) — Gov. Matt Bevin's latest ad is hitting Attorney General Andy Beshear for selling out the state in the Purdue Pharma case.
The ad claims that Beshear did not fight for a bigger settlement. It was Beshear's predecessor, Jack Conway, that had reached a $24 million settlement with Purdue Pharma. Conway had done this a few days before he had left office.
The settlement occurred before Beshear became the attorney general.
Beshear has said that he is the toughest attorney general on opioids, but Bevin claims the state received less than ten percent of Oklahoma's $270 million Purdue settlement.
Bevin claims he's instituted the nation's strictest limits on opioid prescriptions, and for the first time on record - opioid-related deaths actually went down in Kentucky.
Beshear's spokesperson Sam Newton reached out to LEX 18 with the following statement:
"Matt Bevin is the last person who should be trying to attack Andy over opioids. Andy Beshear has been the most aggressive attorney general in the country when it comes to going after big pharma, suing nine opioid distributors and manufacturers. It's Matt Bevin who sides with the opioid companies, opposes Andy's lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, and told AARP that big drug companies get a 'bad rap.' This is just more desperate smears as Andy Beshear had nothing to do with the Purdue settlement whatsoever. Bevin also refuses to disclose his tax returns and financial disclosures, keeping secret from Kentuckians how he makes his millions."
