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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:
- Makers of OxiCotin, Purdue Pharma, Files Reorganization Chapter 11 "Bankrupty"
- Opioid Talks Fail, Purdue Bankruptcy Filing Expected
(Score: 4, Insightful) by hwertz on Sunday September 22 2019, @07:45AM (2 children)
The problem with these greasy dirtbags (the Sacklers, not Purdue Pharma in particular) is not that they ran this company that produced these opioids. For people with chronic pain, they need things like this. You'll note that the other opioid producers are not being sued anywhere near the extent that Purdue Pharma is. There's a reason for this. It's that:
A) Realizing how addictive they were, the Sacklers had Purdue Pharma run a sales program that encouraged and rewarded their sales force for continuing to increase OxyContin sales. Not just by letting more pharmacists know about it (which would be fine at least in my opinion), but primarily by encouraging existing pharmacists to prescribe more and more. They knew these increases were for the most part not by helping more people with their pain, but prescribing more and larger doses to people who had become addicted. Google it, they are caught dead to rights via E-Mail exchanges knowing that these top salesmen were mainly at the top by dealing with pharmacists who prescribed to addicts (clear based on pills sold going up much faster than number of customers), and by encouraging pharmacists to prescribe in ways that'd maximize the chance of new users getting addicted. The E-Mails show they were rewarding these salesmen and leaning on the rest of their sales force to adopt similar tactics.
B) Others in this thread have covered them trying to downplay the addictiveness of these very addictive pills. Again, E-Mails show this was all the Sacklers idea, not something any normal human being working at Purdue came up with.
C) These greasy bastards then decided they would start addiction clinics. OK, so maybe this was them regretting getting people addicted and decided to help them? OH NO!! Via E-Mails leaked, the Sacklers viewed this as "synergy" (don't know if they used that term but that's the view), making money off regular people they've turned into addicts, then making money off them AGAIN when they decide they'd better get treatment. No, really, the E-Mail shows the Sacklers sole interest in these clinics was getting a second stream of income out of these people, not to help them*. This seems like something a villain would do in a movie (and not even a good movie, a cheezy one because of how straight-up evil it is.) But the E-Mail has them dead to rights.
*(That said, as far as I know the clinics were fully legitimate, attempting to get people off this addiction.)
C) They've been draining money steadily out of Purdue so they could claim the company is broke and sadly unable to pay the piper, while (needless to say) resisting paying out of their own pocket, even though they are basically the ones responsible for this.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @05:53PM (1 child)
even though they are basically the ones responsible for this
You are not wrong. But lets not forget the addicts and doctors and pharmacies in this too. I know a few dozen addicts. Every last one that I know *willingly* took these pills to get high. They freely admit it and even offer to hook you up.
The problem is pretty much all parties are scummy in this mess. They just happen to be the scummiest. Are there victims in this mess. You betcha. But most are not.
(Score: 2) by Pav on Monday September 23 2019, @11:59AM
If YOU were denied food you're mere weeks from murdering for a meal, becoming a cannibal etc... My grandfather saw skinny skeleton-people sitting staring into space with blood around their lips in a WWII camp in poland. He thought they were sick, but they had been driven mad by hunger and cut the glutius maximus (butt muscles) from the corpses of their bretheren - it was the only part with enough meat.
I'm sure those cannibals deserved the blame... not the people that engineered that situation. **eyeroll**