Share
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Purdue Pharma and the thousands of state and local governments suing the maker of OxyContin over the nation’s deadly opioid crisis are negotiating a $10 billion to $12 billion settlement under which the Sackler family would give up ownership of the company, according to published reports.
Also, Purdue Pharma would supply its addiction treatment drugs free to the public, and the Sacklers would sell another pharmaceutical company, Mundipharma, which would add $1.5 billion to the settlement, the Times said.
In a statement, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company did not confirm any of the details — some of them also reported by NBC — but said it sees little good in years of “wasteful litigation and appeals.”
“Purdue believes a constructive global resolution is the best path forward, and the company is actively working with the state attorneys general and other plaintiffs to achieve this outcome,” it said.

Settlement Talks Involve More Than 2,000 Lawsuits
Paul Farrell Jr., a lead plaintiffs’ lawyer representing local governments, said all sides remain under a gag order: “All we can confirm is that we are in active settlement discussions with Purdue.”
“Our mission here has always been clear — make Purdue Pharma and the other manufacturers and distributors pay for what they did to Pennsylvania and its people, and put the Sackler family out of the opioid business for good,” said Jacklin Rhoads, spokeswoman for Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, whose office is taking part in the Cleveland negotiations.
The settlement talks involve more than 2,000 lawsuits against the company and other players in the painkiller industry over the opioid overdose epidemic that has killed more than 400,000 people in the U.S. since 2000 and torn apart communities. The first federal trial over the devastating toll is scheduled to start in Cleveland in two months.
Purdue has been cast by attorneys and addiction experts as a chief villain in the crisis. While its painkillers represent a very small piece of the opioid market, the lawsuits accuse it of playing a central role in creating demand for the drugs by downplaying OxyContin’s addiction risks and pushing doctors hard to prescribe it.
‘Profiting From Death and Destruction’
New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement that the Sackler family “started a national fire” and has “made billions profiting from death and destruction.”
The Sacklers were ranked America’s 19th-richest family by Forbes magazine in 2016, with a net worth estimated at $13 billion.
In March, Purdue and the Sackler family reached a $270 million settlement with Oklahoma over the opioid scourge.
On Monday, an Oklahoma judge found Johnson & Johnson responsible for fueling the state’s opioid crisis and ordered the maker of such familiar household products as Band-Aids and baby powder to pay $572 million to help clean up the problem.
It was the first opioid lawsuit brought against the industry by a state to go to trial, and activists expressed hope the verdict would turn up the pressure on other companies to settle.
Members of the Sackler family are major philanthropists who have given money to cultural institutions around the world, including the Smithsonian Institution, New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and London’s Tate Modern. But in recent months, institutions have come under pressure to sever ties to the Sacklers and take the family name off their walls.
Texas Walmart Shooter Who Killed 23 Avoids Death Penalty by Pleading Guilty
1 hour ago
Chevron Announces First Oil at Ballymore Project in US Gulf
2 hours ago
Fresno Barbershop Shooting Leaves Man Dead, Two Others Injured
3 hours ago
Vance, Modi Welcome Significant Progress on India-US Trade Deal
3 hours ago
White House Denies Report It Is Searching for New Defense Secretary
3 hours ago
Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him
3 hours ago
Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Satbir Singh
4 hours ago
Tesla Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claiming Sudden Acceleration in Ohio Crash
6 minutes ago
Categories


Tesla Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claiming Sudden Acceleration in Ohio Crash

Special Interests Pour More Than Half a Billion Into CA Lobbying

Texas Walmart Shooter Who Killed 23 Avoids Death Penalty by Pleading Guilty

Chevron Announces First Oil at Ballymore Project in US Gulf

Fresno Barbershop Shooting Leaves Man Dead, Two Others Injured

Vance, Modi Welcome Significant Progress on India-US Trade Deal
