Where many may see 2024 as another election year helplessly mired in political controversy, former Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter sees things differently. In a long career in law, government, and the private sector, he learned that controversy and discord are just part of making necessary changes in American society. He used this knowledge during his decadeslong career to find the delicate balance between achieving results and managing the politics of major decisions.
The fourth-generation Oklahoman took a pragmatic approach to his experience as Oklahoma attorney general from 2017 to 2021, navigating the choppy waters of political controversy to make a lasting difference for the state he loves. Mike Hunter overcame seemingly insurmountable challenges, achieving lifesaving results through his bipartisan efforts.
A National First: Successfully Suing Big Pharma
Soon after Mike Hunter became attorney general, he set up and chaired the Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse. Later that year, Hunter filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state against four opioid manufacturers: Purdue Pharma, Allergan, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and Cephalon. This was a tremendous step at a time when no state had successfully litigated and received funds from a pharmaceutical company for its role in opioid overdoses.
Mike Hunter’s approach changed everything. “To this day, nobody has gotten any money out of Purdue or Purdue’s principals, but we filed the lawsuit against the manufacturers in Oklahoma, and Purdue was intent on trying to settle the case,” he said. Despite naysayers and claims that the lawsuit was a waste of money, Purdue agreed to pay the state $270 million.
While subsequent lawsuits against other manufacturers, including Johnson & Johnson, didn’t pan out, they set a critical legal precedent. Hunter’s trial against Johnson & Johnson introduced the public nuisance defense, which no lawsuit had used previously to challenge these manufacturers.
“We discredited their experts. They had two different experts arguing that they were not the cause of the epidemic. We did research and both of their experts had said the exact opposite of that in lectures or speeches that they’d given,” Mike Hunter explained. “Public nuisance theory is basically if you’re the cause of a harm, then you’re responsible for the harm. It acts to protect the public when regulation doesn’t.”
The judge found Hunter’s argument compelling and ruled against Johnson & Johnson. The Oklahoma Supreme Court eventually reversed the $465 million verdict, but Mike Hunter believes it was still a win, despite the controversy of the case. “We tried that case. Seven-week trial here in Oklahoma, Norman, half a billion dollar verdict, significantly less than we had argued the state needed. We did everything right in that case,” he said.
Settlements Fund Allocations
Oklahoma’s lawsuits against manufacturers were just one source of controversy during Mike Hunter’s tenure as attorney general. Officials also disagreed about how to use the funds from the Purdue lawsuit, complicated by the fact that Purdue was about to declare bankruptcy.
“We wanted to do something creative and effectual with the money,” Hunter explained. However, a tight timeline forced the state to seek out a solution — using a large portion of the money to fund an addiction and research center at Oklahoma State University — that some political opponents found less than satisfactory. Mike Hunter acknowledged everyone’s concerns, but ultimately, he knew something was better than nothing. “There were very legitimate, practical motivations for us to do what we did. No. 1, we wanted to be outside the 90-day clawback window because [Purdue was] poised to declare bankruptcy,” he explained.
“Purdue liked that they were investing in something that was substantive and directly related to abating the opioid epidemic through addiction science. They would provide an endowment for the National Center for Wellness and Recovery at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa. We pushed them hard on the numbers because we felt like we had to get as close to $200 million as an endowment for the center as we could get,” he explained. “That was a success I’m proud of, and proud my alma mater, OSU, had the vision and leadership to have established the center in 2018.”
Hunter’s dogged determination set a precedent for states across the country to use these settlements to mitigate the harm of opioids. “Most of the money writ large is being allocated, forwarded to governmental entities within states, cities and counties,” he said. “A lot of states have regions that are supervisory or governing boards for how those monies are spent.”
True Bipartisan Leadership
Partisan politics have led to a decrease in citizens’ trust in their government. In fact, nearly half of all young voters want more options at the ballot box. While America’s two-party system likely isn’t changing anytime soon, Mike Hunter believes that politicians have to be willing to work across the aisle to get anything done. Citizens elect representatives to effect change, and that’s precisely what Hunter wanted.
He took a different view of hot-button issues, looking at the net effect and harm of a problem first before considering the politics of the problem. For example, Hunter asserted that the federal Food and Drug Administration’s failure to act was a significant reason behind the opioid epidemic. In his view, it came down to a failure of regulation. “Regulation did not appropriately do what it should have done, which is to impose restrictions on the use of opioids, and regulation didn’t work. The FDA dropped the ball.” he said.
Mike Hunter believes that issues need policy solutions. But thanks to increasingly partisan politics, it’s getting harder to tackle these issues in a reasonable way. “In my judgment, there is an increasing failure to approach issues in an objective, empirical fashion,” he explained.
After years in politics and public service, Hunter believes leaders must look at the big picture beyond the party line. “The extent to which we let politics drive policy is a shortcoming of the democratic legislative process. Let’s strip all the politics and emotion out of things. Let’s find the best solution we can, and then let’s worry about the politics,” he said.
The Lasting Impact of Mike Hunter’s Reforms Beyond the Bench
Mike Hunter didn’t get all the results he wanted during his time as Oklahoma attorney general, but his team’s legal work had a tremendous impact despite political barriers.
After state lawmakers implemented anti-opioid legislation proposed by the Opioid Commission in 2018, Oklahoma saw a staggering decrease in opioid-related harm. “We had the largest decrease in overdose deaths on a percentage basis of any state in the country,” Mike Hunter explained.
Politics will always be present in the American government. Leaders like Mike Hunter show that taking the high road comes with additional pressure, but the life-changing results speak for themselves.