Alva Review-Courier -

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal judge has rejected a request to expedite arguments over whether Oklahoma's lawsuit against opioid manufacturers should go back to state court.

U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange rejected the state's emergency request to shorten the timeline for legal filings in the venue dispute. The state's attorneys said an emergency exists because people in the U.S. are dying daily from the opioid epidemic, the Oklahoman reported .

Oklahoma filed a lawsuit alleging drug companies have been causing billions of dollars in damages by fraudulently marketing opioids. Purdue Pharma and other opioid manufacturers moved the case to Oklahoma City federal court last week, alleging the state is asking them to make different safety and efficacy disclosures to the public than required by federal law and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Attorneys for the state responded by accusing drug company attorneys of violating a written agreement not to try transferring the case to federal court as long as the state agreed to specific scheduling concessions and didn't amend the lawsuit.

Miles-LaGrange sided with the drug companies, citing "significant legal issues that require careful and thorough research and briefing to ensure a decision that is well-informed and well-reasoned."

Attorneys for the state plan to ask Miles-LaGrange to reconsider her decision because an Ohio federal court may take over the case before she can rule.

"The multidistrict litigation essentially sends us from the front of the line to the end of the line," said Reggie Whitten, a private attorney helping represent the state. "Instead of getting to trial in May 2019, maybe we'll end up having it sent back to Oklahoma in 2024."

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Information from: The Oklahoman, http://www.newsok.com