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Purdue Pharma settles opioid lawsuit for $270m
Purdue Pharma, the drug-maker owned by the billionaire Sackler family, has reached a $270m settlement in a lawsuit which claimed its opioids contributed to the deaths of thousands of people.
The deal with Oklahoma is the first settlement the US firm has struck amid some 2,000 other lawsuits it is facing linked to its painkiller OxyContin.
Purdue is one of several firms named in the claim which alleged they used deceptive practices to sell opioids.
[...]Under the settlement, Purdue will pay $102.5m towards the creation of a National Centre for Addiction Studies and Treatment at Oklahoma State University.
The Sacklers themselves said that they will contribute $75m over five years to the centre.
Previously: OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma May File for Bankruptcy to Disrupt Lawsuits
(Score: 3, Interesting) by tizan on Wednesday March 27 2019, @02:48AM
Most cases where it was being prescribed could be treated with ibuprofen or other such drugs..This is an addictive drug that should be used in cases when others don't work...and the risk of addiction is downweighed by the gain in quality of life (another e.g morphine).
Doctors were being told by pharma people that it is not addictive...A dentist prescribed it for me after a crown work and told me people in pain don't get addicted !...they thought it was an effective pain killer with no side effects...and that thought was being driven by the sales people talking to them. Nobody was giving morphine willy nilly 2 years ago...but they were for oxycontyn.