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Sacklers Threaten to Scrap Opioid Deal If They Aren’t Shielded From Lawsuits

posted by janrinok on Saturday September 21 2019, @10:52PM   Printer-friendly
from the they-must-be-on-drugs dept.

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Sacklers threaten to scrap opioid deal if they aren't shielded from lawsuits

Lawyers for OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma filed a new complaint late Wednesday threatening that the company's mega-rich owners, the Sackler family, could pull out of a proposed multi-billion-dollar opioid settlement deal if a bankruptcy judge doesn't shield the family from outstanding state lawsuits.

Purdue's lawyers argue that if the lawsuits continue, the Sacklers will have to waste "hundreds of millions of dollars" on legal costs that could otherwise go to claimants in the settlement. The family's lawyers added that in that event, the family "may be unwilling—or unable—to make the billions of dollars of contributions" to the proposed settlement.

State attorneys general, however, argue that the tactic is yet another move designed to shield the Sacklers and their ill-gotten wealth.

"This filing isn't a surprise. It's yet another effort by Purdue to avoid accountability and shield the Sackler family fortune, and we will be opposing it," Maura Healey, the attorney general of Massachusetts, told the New York Times.

Related:

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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @11:42PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @11:42PM (#896951)

    "Certainly, I can't see lawyers for either side being too enthusiastic about supporting a shielding of the Sacklers from further litigation..."

    -

    Obviously you don't have much experience with lawyers.

    A lawyer will throw his own mother under a bus if it brings a verdict that pays big.

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  • (Score: 2) by DeVilla on Wednesday September 25 2019, @07:41PM

    by DeVilla (5354) on Wednesday September 25 2019, @07:41PM (#898726)

    I believe the thought was "shielding of the Sacklers from further litigation" means less verdicts that pay big. Sure their lawyer wants to win and get them off. But there might be more money defending them in the long term if they lose. The lawyer just has to be sure not to seem so inept as to get fired.