SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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:
- Makers of OxiCotin, Purdue Pharma, Files Reorganization Chapter 11 "Bankrupty"
- Opioid Talks Fail, Purdue Bankruptcy Filing Expected
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Sunday September 22 2019, @11:52AM
Maybe but unlikely. The fact the evidences were presented in medical publications for decades and other countries followed through and limited the use of those drugs to in-hospital care also implicates the doctors prescribing the drugs and the regulators who didn't see fit to act based on the evidence. So, with so many power dynamics and individuals on the line, someone is going to let them get away with it to prevent the spread of liability from reaching their doorstep.
The truth is that the only reason oxy is taken off the shelves (and marijuana is being legalized) is because the relevant patents expired. These trials are there to smooth corporate operations. Not to seek justice. Not to compensate victims. The judges will likely play along unless approached by someone in power who is in conflict with the family or a politician seeking to make a name for themselves.
compiling...