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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @01:28AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @01:28AM (#896970)

    Given the direct involvement of the Sacklers in marketing oxycontin over multiple decades and in spite of evidence of its detrimental effects, I believe criminal liability ought to be on the table, especially pour encourager les autres.

    Great. When do we go after Anheuser Busch for causing alcoholism?

  • (Score: 5, Touché) by Pav on Sunday September 22 2019, @02:02AM (3 children)

    by Pav (114) on Sunday September 22 2019, @02:02AM (#896975)

    Exactly when they get doctors to prescribe their product with sponsored studies that show it helps with pain while not being very addictive.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @05:58AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @05:58AM (#897027)

      I didn't know the Sacklers had the power to write prescriptions.
      It's their first amendment right to advertise their product, and in our capitalist society manufacturers of legal products naturally want to sell more of it.

      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @06:30AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @06:30AM (#897035)

        It's fraud when you knowingly lie about it.

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday September 24 2019, @11:56PM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 24 2019, @11:56PM (#898330) Journal

        Are you related to Donald? The Trump admires anyone who can make money. The more money one accumulates, the better a person he is. Money is the only metric the Trump needs to judge your character. If you are poor, you are trash. If you are filthy rich, then you are god-like. Check your family tree. Is your skin orange-ish?