A county judge ordered West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to turn over 349 documents relating to the merger between Cabell Huntington (W.Va.) Hospital and Huntington, W.Va.-based St. Mary's Medical Center, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
The documents reportedly included email correspondence between Mr. Morrisey's office and Rep. Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.) regarding the merger.
Kanawha Circuit Court judge Tod Kaufman told Mr. Morrisey to produce the documents before noon on Oct. 7. Judge Kaufman will reportedly examine the documents himself before making them public, according to the article.
Mr. Morrisey's aides admitted during court proceedings that a number of the documents had been shredded, but that electronic copies of the records can be printed out.
Huntington-based Steel of West Virginia sued the attorney general's office after he refused to release the documents under a Freedom of Information Act request. The company alleges the proposed merger will drive up healthcare costs in the area, proving detrimental to the public.
According to a court filing, the company cited an email sent by Mr. Morrisey's office that raises questions about whether the attorney general engaged in discussions about undermining any potential antitrust settlement between the two organizations, according to the article.
The attorney general's office maintains that it is within its rights to withhold all 349 documents about the merger because the emails were sent while Mr. Morrisey was leading an antitrust investigation into the transaction, according to the article.