Massachusetts and New York are among the states agreeing to end the fight to halt a controversial Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan. The deal shelters members of the Sackler family from opioid lawsuits.
A bankruptcy judge cleared a plan for final vote by creditors of Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, that would release the Sacklers and their financial empire from liability for the opioid crisis.
Drug distributors have faced embarrassing revelations about their internal practices. One email shared by corporate executives described rural Americans addicted to opioids as "pillbillies."
Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney investigated the opioid crisis. He says it was created by pharmaceutical companies, distributors, pharmacists and doctors, all looking to profit.
Under a bankruptcy procedure prohibited by courts in part of the country, the Sacklers could be sheltered from opioid lawsuits even without declaring bankruptcy. Some states are crying foul.
Companies that sold or distributed opioid medications face huge legal, financial and public relations peril. Critics say shareholders, not CEOs, will pay the price.
Two dozen states had hoped to sue the owners of Purdue Pharma for their alleged role in the opioid crisis. But a federal bankruptcy has judge put the brakes on — again — until April 21.
Attorneys, forensic analysts and other financial experts working for Purdue Pharma spent nearly two years looking for evidence of wrongdoing by the Sacklers. Critics want the findings made public.
Under a bankruptcy plan filed late Monday, the OxyContin maker would pay $500 million up front, promising billions in future payments. Twenty-four states rejected the proposal.
The consulting firm McKinsey & Company has reached agreements with 49 states because of its sales advice to drug manufacturers, including Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin. More than $16M will help Georgians living with opioid use disorder, Attorney General Chris Carr said.
McKinsey is the latest major American corporation to face legal, financial and public relations peril stemming from its role in the nation's deadly opioid epidemic.
Thursday's hearing was the first time members of the Sackler family faced a public accounting for their alleged role in the nation's deadly opioid epidemic.
The corporate consulting giant issued a rare apology for its behind-the-scenes work with Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin. One senator called McKinsey's behavior "abhorrent."
A new plea deal with the Justice Department is the second time the family-owned company admitted criminal schemes to boost Oxycontin sales. Despite their hands-on role, the Sacklers face no charges.
The controversial deal hashed out between the Department of Justice and the maker of Oxycontin provides hundreds of millions of dollars of relief for communities hit hard by the opioid epidemic.
