- Distributed by The Associated Press

The legal system worked in Rezulin case and we need to take notice. So much of what you hear about West Virginia's court system is negative.

Reforms are made, yet the state is still considered by some to be a ''judicial hellhole.''

Frivolous lawsuits. Lawyers who try to insult a jury's intelligence by bringing in ''expert witnesses'' who are nothing more than hired guns being paid big bucks to say what the lawyers want them to say.

A Charleston man with a four-year criminal record and a history of violence being placed on probation after pleading guilty to a felony charge, then being charged with shooting and killing his girlfriend four months later.

And recently, the release of e-mails from state Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott ''Spike'' Maynard to Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship.

And it's not confined to West Virginia. Remember the O.J. Simpson murder trial, not so much the outcome but the fact that it dragged on for nine months because high-profile lawyers were able to control the courtroom?

And remember the $67 million lawsuit - filed by a judge, no less - against a Washington, D.C., dry cleaner over a lost pair of pants?

Those are the criticisms, some of them certainly justified.

Recently, however, something positive occurred in court. And it was right here in Raleigh County.

In December 2007, Judge John Hutchison approved a $17.1 million settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed against Warner-Lambert Co. and Parke-Davis, whose diabetes drug Rezulin was found to have caused severe and sometimes fatal medical problems for those who took it.

Because a number of individuals who were eligible to receive damages did not step forward to claim their money, nearly $8 million of the settlement remained, leaving defense counsel Michael Farrell and plaintiff counsel Scott Segal with an opportunity to help the state's two major universities in their efforts to fight against and better understand diabetes.

Two orders signed by Hutchison awarded $2.25 million to the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine Rural Health Program and $5.67 million to the West Virginia University Department of Pediatrics.

Hutchison commended the efforts of both Farrell and Segal.

''I believe the plan for the distribution is an outstanding example of cooperation between the two parties involved, and the distribution is absolutely in the best interest of the citizens of the state of West Virginia,'' the judge said.

Lady Justice may still be wearing a blindfold, but with this case, she has to be smiling, too. The system worked, and all of us need to take notice.