Many of the thousands of lawsuits have been grouped into larger, combined suits. Most claim that Purdue and the Sacklers used deceptive marketing practices to downplay the potential harms from opioid painkillers such as OxyContin, a Purdue product. The result, states say, is more than 400,000 American opioid-related deaths occurring between 1999 and 2017.
"The Sackler family built a multibillion-dollar drug empire based on addiction," New Jersey state Attorney General Gurbir Gerwal said in May as his state announced their lawsuit.
But Purdue and the Sackler family have consistently denied those accusations, and they framed the proposed settlement as simply a quicker way to help those impacted by the opioid crisis.
"While Purdue Pharma is prepared to defend itself vigorously in the opioid litigation, the company has made clear that it sees little good coming from years of wasteful litigation and appeals," the company said in a statement released to NBC News. "The people and communities affected by the opioid crisis need help now. 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."The new settlement would include a plan for Purdue to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy and then re-form as a for-profit "public benefit trust," according to the purported deal, NBC News said.
Still trying to control the narrative- the people and communities dealing with the opioid crisis they created, need help now? Now?
Included in the deal would be $4 billion in drugs, including medicines used to help people fight overdose and addiction. In addition, all future profits from OxyContin and a soon-to-be-approved overdose rescue drug, Nalmefene, would go to the cities and states should they approve the deal, NBC News said.
The new trust would be overseen by independent, court-appointed "well-recognized experts" as trustees, who would in turn appoint a board of directors. The trust would exist for at least 10 years.
The Sacklers would give up ownership of Purdue, two people familiar with the deal told NBC News. The Sacklers themselves as a family would put another $3 billion into the settlement fund.
According to Forbes magazine, the Sacklers are the 19th richest family in the United States, with a combined wealth of $13 billion shared among 20 family members. Purdue earned more than $35 billion from sales of OxyContin alone, NBC News said.If the assembled plaintiffs in the case decide not to take the deal offered by Purdue, the company will go ahead and declare bankruptcy anyway, NBC's sources said. But a liquidated Purdue may have much less money to offer plaintiffs.
Trying to control, not just the narrative, but the entire way in which this crime is handled. How would the law be applied to a drug dealer at the street level? Aren't the Sackler's simply drug dealers? Of course they are. Fully aware of the harm their product is doing.
A pharmaceutical fortune, dispersed in a global labyrinth
A gate protects the entrance of the Rooksnest estate near Lambourn, England, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019. The manor is the domain of Theresa Sackler, widow of one of Purdue Pharma’s founders and, until 2018, a member of the company’s board of directors. A complex web of companies and trusts are controlled by the family, and an examination reveals links between far-flung holdings, far removed from the opioid manufacturer’s headquarters in Stamford, Conn.
The haziness surrounding the estate hints at one of the challenges for government lawyers as they eye a potential settlement with Purdue Pharma L.P. and its owners, the Sackler family, for their alleged role in flooding communities with prescription painkillers.
But where, exactly, did the money withdrawn from Purdue over the years end up? And how much might the family be holding that state and local governments should consider fair game?Answers are complicated by the way the Sacklers have shielded their wealth in a web of companies and trusts, a review by The Associated Press has found. Some are registered in offshore tax havens far from Purdue’s Connecticut headquarters.The web’s complexity and offshore reach could affect the calculus for government lawyers as they weigh how to go after Purdue, including how to calibrate demands in settlement talks.“The Sacklers allegedly (undoubtedly in my opinion) moved significant money offshore, which potentially would make it harder for any judgment creditor to reach,” said Mark Chalos, a lawyer representing counties and cities including Nashville, Tennessee, in suits against opioids makers.“This is the real question and you’re seeing it playing out in a lot of different states in different ways,” said Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, a professor of law at the University of Georgia. “How do you make sure that they (the Sacklers) are not siphoning off those assets and hiding them away?”
Read the entire Washington Post article at the link provided.Related:
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The Sackler off shore trusts reminded me of Jeffrey Epstein and his timely will and trust.