The wealthy Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma, is to pay $6bn for its role in America’s opioid epidemic under a new deal. A BBC News report notes that the sum is nearly $1.7bn more than a previous settlement.
Purdue, which filed for bankruptcy in 2019 amid thousands of lawsuits, made drugs like OxyContin, and is blamed for fuelling the opioid crisis. The US saw nearly half a million deaths from overdoses between 1999 and 2019, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In 2020, Purdue pleaded guilty to criminal charges over its marketing of OxyContin, a painkiller it knew was addictive and being widely abused. A previous settlement against the Sacklers, reached in September 2021, was appealed by eight US states. As part of the new deal, the family is protected from all current and future civil claims. But the deal does not protect them from potential criminal cases.
The $6bn settlement will largely be used to fund opioid treatment and prevention programmes in various states. The family is banned from the US opioid industry, and with Purdue, must make public more than 30m documents, including some previously withheld as privileged legal advice. Purdue must be dissolved or sold by 2024.
BBC News article – Sackler family to pay $6bn for role in US opioid crisis (Open access)
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