Terry Mutchler Quoted in Spotlight PA on Pennsylvania Opioid Settlement Transparency

Terry Mutchler, Chair of Obermayer’s Transparency & Public Data Practice, was quoted in Spotlight PA on July 8, 2025, in an article examining how Pennsylvania’s opioid settlement spending is shielded from public oversight under the state’s Right-to-Know Law.

In 2023, the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ruled it did not have jurisdiction over the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust. A subsequent court order, requested by the Office of Attorney General under Michelle Henry, further exempted the trust from the law’s transparency requirements.

Mutchler, a former executive director of the Office of Open Records and outspoken critic of the exemption, called the initial decision “a huge mistake,” stating that “the trust is an independent agency performing an essential governmental function, thus yoking the opioid trust to transparency.”

Following the court’s amended order, Mutchler described the move as “a significant and massive disappointment,” emphasizing the devastation that the opioid epidemic has had across the state and country, and criticized the harm caused by “a blanket cloak of secrecy.”

“Now more than ever, transparency needs to be a key part of the healing,” she said.

Read the full article here.