Terry Mutchler Talks About Pa.’s Opioid Settlements in SpotlightPA

Terry Mutchler, Chair of Obermayer’s Transparency & Public Data Practice, was quoted in SpotlightPa on Thursday, June 1, 2023, regarding the secret meetings of PA Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust, which is responsible for ensuring counties and other local governments appropriately spend hundreds of millions of dollars expected to come their way from settlements with opioid companies. That money is intended to help Pennsylvania respond to a crisis that kills thousands of people annually in the state.

The board members first met publicly in late March, but before that public meeting, the trust had met in secret for months.

Terry Mutchler said that given the trust’s mission, it should err on the side of transparency.

“The opioid crisis is one of the single biggest scourges that has hit our country in … generations,” Terry said, later adding, “The public was the one that was harmed. So shouldn’t the public be able to at least witness what is going on?”