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Friday 29 March 2019
OXYCONTIN through a spokeswoman
Continued from Front that they "have always act-
But at the heart of the case ed properly."
are Purdue and the Sack- They and the company said
lers, whom James called they would fight the new
"the masterminds behind allegations, which come
this crisis." two days after Purdue and
The suit, like others filed the Sacklers agreed to pay
elsewhere, alleges aggres- $270 million to the state of
sive marketing of OxyCon- Oklahoma to settle an opi-
tin beginning in the mid- oid lawsuit there. In settling
1990s led to massive over- the case, Purdue denied
prescribing and a scourge any wrongdoing.
of dependency, addiction It was the first settlement
and death. Once the pills in a recent wave of nearly
ran out, the lawsuit alleges, 2,000 lawsuits that the com-
many patients craving the pany says could push it into
same effects turned to bankruptcy. New York, in its
cheaper, more potent al- lawsuit, accused the Sack-
ternatives: heroin and fen- lers of pulling hundreds of
tanyl. millions of dollars from the
Representatives for Purdue company because of po-
and Sackler family mem- tentially costly litigation.
bers said the suit mislead- James, the New York at-
ingly blames them for a torney general, said she
problem that's far bigger was open to settlement
than OxyContin. talks but hadn't been ap-
"The state is seeking to pub- proached. In addition to
licly vilify Purdue" and the potentially banning the
Sacklers with ill-supported companies from selling In this Aug. 17, 2018 file photo, family and friends who have lost loved ones to OxyContin and opi-
claims about a drug that the drugs, her lawsuit seeks oid overdoses protest outside Purdue Pharma headquarters in Stamford, Conn.
currently accounts for un- penalties and damages Associated Press
der 2 percent of all opioid that could add up to tens
prescriptions, the Stamford, of millions of dollars and a deaths in New York City, sending representatives on and other institutions have
Connecticut-based com- dedicated fund to curb the according to the lawsuit. It more than a million sales come under pressure to
pany said in a statement. opioid epidemic. accuses the companies of visits to doctors' offices, the turn down donations or re-
The Sackler relatives named Since 2013, opioid-related deliberately betraying their lawsuit said. move the Sackler name.
in the suit — all former Pur- deaths statewide have duties under state drug Richard Sackler, then senior The other defendants in
due board members who more than doubled, and laws "in order to profiteer vice president responsible New York's lawsuit are:
remain shareholders — there's been a 30-fold in- from the plague they knew for sales, proudly told the Johnson & Johnson
said in a statement issued crease in fentanyl-related would be unleashed." audience at an OxyContin and Janssen Pharmaceu-
New Yorker Justin San- launch party in 1996 that it ticals; U.K.-based Mallinck-
george says he experi- would create a "blizzard of rodt plc, which has an opi-
enced that plague first- prescriptions that will bury oid manufacturing plant in
hand after having a dental the competition," the law- Hobart, New York; Dublin-
procedure, getting an opi- suit said. based Endo and Allergan;
oid prescription and be- Purdue and the Sacklers Israeli pharmaceutical
coming addicted. have said they're com- company Teva and the
"I couldn't believe how mitted to trying to stem drug distributors McKesson,
readily available pharma- opioid addiction, includ- AmerisourceBergen, Cardi-
ceutical drugs were," said ing through the Oklahoma nal Health and Rochester
the social worker, who has settlement. It includes $75 Drug Cooperative Inc.
gotten treatment, is now million from the Sacklers, Endo said in a statement
recovering and spoke at though they weren't per- that it denies the allega-
a news conference with sonally sued in that case. tions in the lawsuit and in-
James. Nearly $200 million of the tends to vigorously defend
"We hold accountable money will go toward es- itself. Cardinal Health said
drug dealers, drug traffick- tablishing a National Cen- it has a "rigorous system"
ers, I know, but the phar- ter for Addiction Studies to track pharmacy orders
maceutical companies and Treatment at Oklaho- and has stopped suspi-
hide behind this legitimate ma State University in Tulsa. cious orders for hundreds
enterprise, and as far as The Sacklers have given of millions of painkiller pills
I'm concerned, are just as tens of millions of dollars to over the last decade. In
guilty as a drug trafficker or New York City cultural insti- a statement, the Dublin,
a drug cartel," Sangeorge tutions. Several members of Ohio-based company
said. The suit accuses Pur- the family own multimillion- said: "Our people operate
due in particular of down- dollar Manhattan apart- in good faith, and our goal
playing addiction risks and ments. One has a $5 million is to get it right." McKesson
pushing doctors to increase Long Island estate. had no specific response to
dosages even as the dan- In the past few weeks, as the New York suit but said it
gers became known, the the accusations against has "strong programs" to try
lawsuit said. Some of the the family have mounted, to prevent opioid abuse.
company's marketing tac- the Tate museums in Lon- The other companies de-
tics included hiring a re- don and the Guggenheim clined comment or did not
spected New York City Museum in New York have immediately respond to re-
doctor to tout the drug and cut ties with the family, quests for it.q