Law [Purdue Pharma's Opioid Lawsuit] Supreme Court Hears Arguments Against $6 Billion Settlement That Grants The Sackler Family Civil Immunity

Treat them like drug cartels. Find all their money and force them to prove it was made honestly and not through opioids. Put them in jail til all the money is accounted for too. F them, no pity and no mercy
 
Purdue Pharma reaches tentative deal to settle opioid lawsuits
September 11, 2019



A tentative settlement announced Wednesday over the role Purdue Pharma played in the nation's opioid addiction crisis falls short of the far-reaching national settlement the OxyContin maker had been seeking for months. But litigation is sure to continue against the company and the family that owns it.

The agreement with about half the states and attorneys representing roughly 2,000 local governments would have Purdue file for a structured bankruptcy and pay as much as $12 billion over time, with about $3 billion coming from the Sackler family. That number involves future profits and the value of drugs currently in development. In addition, the family would have to give up its ownership of the company and contribute another $1.5 billion by selling another of its pharmaceutical companies, Mundipharma.

Several attorneys general said the agreement was a better way to ensure compensation from Purdue and the Sacklers than taking their chances if Purdue files for bankruptcy on its own.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said the deal "was the quickest and surest way to get immediate relief for Arizona and for the communities that have been harmed by the opioid crisis and the actions of the Sackler family."

Opioid addiction has contributed to the deaths of some 400,000 Americans over the past two decades, hitting many rural communities particularly hard.

The lawsuits against Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue paint it as a particular villain in the crisis. They say the company's aggressive marketing of OxyContin downplayed addiction risks and led to more widespread opioid prescribing, even though only a sliver of the opioid painkillers sold in the U.S. were its products.

The tentative agreement and expected bankruptcy filing would remove Purdue from the first federal trial over the opioids epidemic, scheduled to begin next month in Ohio.

Even with Wednesday's development, many states have not signed on. Several state attorneys general vowed to continue their legal battles against the company in bankruptcy court and the Sacklers. Roughly 20 states have sued members of the Sackler family in state courts.

Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Wisconsin are among the states saying they were not part of the agreement.

"Our position remains firm and unchanged and nothing for us has changed today," Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement.

"The scope and scale of the pain, death and destruction that Purdue and the Sacklers have caused far exceeds anything that has been offered thus far," Tong said. "Connecticut's focus is on the victims and their families, and holding Purdue and the Sacklers accountable for the crisis they have caused."

He said the state would continue to pursue Purdue if it files for bankruptcy under the settlement agreement, as expected.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro called the tentative deal "a slap in the face to everyone who has had to bury a loved one due to this family's destruction and greed."

He said he intends to continue fighting the Sacklers, who he said did not have to acknowledge any wrongdoing in their agreement.

"This is far from over," he said.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/purdue...entative-deal-opioid-crisis-today-2019-09-11/
 
Last edited:
Purdue Pharma files for bankruptcy as part of settlement
September 16, 2019



Purdue Pharma, the company that made billions selling the prescription painkiller OxyContin, filed for bankruptcy Sunday night. The move came days after Purdue reached a tentative settlement with many state and local governments of a landmark lawsuit over the toll the opioid epidemic has taken on communities nationwide.

The filing was anticipated before and after the tentative deal, and was part of it. The deal could be worth up to $12 billion over time.

Purdue's board of directors met Sunday evening to approve the filing, the Reuters news service noted. It was made in a federal bankruptcy court in White Plains, New York.

"This settlement framework avoids wasting hundreds of millions of dollars and years on protracted litigation," Steve Miller, the board's chairman, said in a statement, "and instead will provide billions of dollars and critical resources to communities across the country trying to cope with the opioid crisis. We will continue to work with state attorneys general and other plaintiff representatives to finalize and implement this agreement as quickly as possible."

But legal battles still lie ahead for Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue, which is spending millions on legal costs as it defends itself in suits from 2,600 government and other entities.

About half the states haven't signed onto the proposed settlement. And several of them plan to object to it in bankruptcy court and to continue litigation in other courts against members of the Sackler family, which owns the company. The family agreed to pay at least $3 billion in the settlement plus contribute the company itself, which is to be reformed with its future profits going to the company's creditors.

In a statement, the families of late company owners Mortimer and Raymond Sackler said they have "deep compassion for the victims of the opioid crisis" and believe the settlement framework "is an historic step toward providing critical resources that address a tragic public health situation."

Objections came over the amount of the deal, which some officials say won't come close to reaching the $12 billion mark, and because it means the company won't be found liable by a jury or judge.

Miller said the company hasn't admitted wrongdoing and doesn't intend to. "The alternative is to not settle but instead to resume the litigation," he said on a conference call with reporters. "The resumption of litigation would rapidly diminish all the resources of the company and would be lose-lose-lose all the way around. Whatever people might wish for is not on the table now."

Because so many states balked at the settlement, it could complicate the bankruptcy process. The Sackler family members said they're still trying to get more states to sign on.

"We are hopeful that in time, those parties who are not yet supportive will ultimately shift their focus to the critical resources that the settlement provides to people and problems that need them," they said.

Key issues that could be decided include whether the suits against the Sacklers in state courts will be able to move ahead, and what will happen to the company itself. One option could be for a judge to order that it be sold.

Court filings assert that members of the Sackler family were paid more than $4 billion by Purdue from 2007 to 2018.

Much of the family's fortune is believed to be held outside the U.S., which could complicate lawsuits against the family over opioids.

A court filing by the New York Attorney General's office on Friday contended that Sackler family members used Swiss and other hidden accounts to transfer $1 billion to themselves. The discovery of the transfers bolsters several states' claims that family members worked to shield its wealth because of the growing legal threats against them and Purdue.

"The controversial piece is going to be about how much the Sacklers need to kick in for the deal to work,'' Adam J. Levitin, a professor specializing in bankruptcy at Georgetown Law, told The Washington Post.

"The Sacklers are going to be left with plenty of money after this,'' he added. "There is a desire that the Sacklers pay some blood money, but it's never going to be enough to make everyone happy.''

The Sacklers 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.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/purdue-pharma-files-for-bankruptcy-today-2019-09-15/
 
My brother is a neuro surgeon, in his town there's a doc that was until recently, was a drug pusher. She'd prescribe almost anyone opioids or heavy stuff right away.
From top down to the docs and drug reps, punishment should hit them all

Wonder if his "patients" go here to pick up their merchandise:

 
For what it's worth, that's some good shit.
 
Wonder if his "patients" go here to pick up their merchandise:


Different state, but yes that lady wrote out so many prescriptions, she should be considered a drug cartel
 
Treat them like drug cartels. Find all their money and force them to prove it was made honestly and not through opioids. Put them in jail til all the money is accounted for too. F them, no pity and no mercy

This really should be a death penalty crime. This family 70,000 people last year. That's like 23 9/11s, last year.

Its past time to simply have drone strikes against the sacklers.
 






The Sackler family withdrew more than $10bn from Purdue Pharma as pressure intensified on the company over its role in America's opioid crisis, court filings have revealed.

The wealthy owners of the pharmaceutical titan transferred more than eight times as much money from Purdue between 2008 and 2017 than in the previous 13 years.

Payments to the Sacklers soared after 2007 when Purdue was fined more than $600m (£457m) for misleading marketing of its powerful prescription painkiller OxyContin, the documents show.

OxyContin sales continued to grow even after the fine, generating billions for the company at the same time as opioid-related deaths continued to rise.
 
Last edited:
I am sure they realized much of the harm that opioids were doing but these drugs were prescribed by providers and dispensed by pharmacies and paid for by insurance companies. There are a lot of people and parties involved in this who not are getting the blame the companies are. Lots of doctors had numerous of their patients OD and never changed their prescription patterns. Insurance companies know what their patients are being prescribed.

Has one insurance company been held accountable?
 
Something just occurred to me, I bet the parents trying to cheat their kids into good colleges do more prison time than any pharmaceutical executive will over the opioids.

Just a guess.
 
Canadian here. I have a percocet prescription for chronic elbow pain, and psoriatic arthritis, but I have to jump through hoops to get it. My doc is constantly pushing other means, all which I've tried, but nothing does the trick quite like half, to a full, perc. This isn't something that should be pushed lightly. I really hate the demonization of it, but I'm glad they're cracking down on prescriptions via shady parties acting like cartels
 
Last edited:
This is a witch hunt predicated on a total hoax being carried out by a lot of very, very bad people. Perdue's manufacture of Oxycontin was perfect. It was a perfect manufacture.
 
Canadian here. I have a percocet prescription for chronic elbow pain, and psoriatic arthritis, but I have to jump through hoops to get it. My doc is constantly pushing other means, all which I've tried, but nothing does the trick quite like half, to a full, perc. This isn't something that should be pushed lightly. I really hate the demonization of it, but I'm glad they're cracking down on prescriptions via shady parties acting like cartels

This is actually what I hate about the whole thing. I went to a dentist to get some teeth removed and I asked him what kind of pain medication I would be getting and he said we would do tylenol mixed with ibuprofen and I looked at him like he was fucking stupid. I told him straight up I want vicodin or were not doing shit and I'll find another dentist to do this. I was paying $3k for this procedure I was happy to shop around if needed.

He agreed after some back and forth and I asked him what's up why am I have to fight over something that was basically standard not to long ago. He brought up the whole issue with addiction and people getting in trouble. I just hate how normal people who can take pills, and then stop when you're supposed to have to be punished because some people are drug addicts and have no self control.
 
This is actually what I hate about the whole thing. I went to a dentist to get some teeth removed and I asked him what kind of pain medication I would be getting and he said we would do tylenol mixed with ibuprofen and I looked at him like he was fucking stupid. I told him straight up I want vicodin or were not doing shit and I'll find another dentist to do this. I was paying $3k for this procedure I was happy to shop around if needed.

He agreed after some back and forth and I asked him what's up why am I have to fight over something that was basically standard not to long ago. He brought up the whole issue with addiction and people getting in trouble. I just hate how normal people who can take pills, and then stop when you're supposed to have to be punished because some people are drug addicts and have no self control.

That's what happens whenever the pendulum swing.

Doctors were dishing out opioids like they were candies, which is ridiculous, and now they're scared to prescribe anything at all even when the pain is real, which is equally as ridiculous.

Eventually we'll reach an equilibrium, or finding something new that isn't addictive, which ever comes first.
 

Good. Take it all from them. Treat them like cartels, they have to prove they make money legitimately.
These people belong in jail and their empire should be seized. You make money this way and you end up with nothing
 
Back
Top