Page 10 - HOH

A4 up front
Thursday 12 sepTember 2019

Tentative opioids

settlement falls short

of nationwide deal

Continued from Front ular villain in the crisis. They
say the company’s aggres-
That number involves fu- sive marketing of OxyCon-
ture profits and the value of tin downplayed addiction
drugs currently in develop- risks and led to more wide-
ment. In addition, the fam- spread opioid prescribing,
ily would have to give up its even though only a sliver of
ownership of the company the opioid painkillers sold in
and contribute another the U.S. were its products.
$1.5 billion by selling an- The tentative agreement
other of its pharmaceutical and expected bankruptcy
companies, Mundipharma. filing would remove Purdue
Several attorneys general from the first federal trial
said the agreement was a over the opioids epidemic,
better way to ensure com- scheduled to begin next
pensation from Purdue and month in Ohio.
the Sacklers than taking In a statement after Medications that are are stored in the police headquarters that are and slated for destruction, are
their chances if Purdue files Wednesday’s announce- shown in a locked storage area, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, in Barberton, Ohio.
for bankruptcy on its own. ment, the company said Associated Press
Arizona Attorney General that it “continues to work far exceeds anything that time, several attorneys On Wednesday, the Sack-
Mark Brnovich said the deal with all plaintiffs on reach- has been offered thus far,” general said they were not ler family said in a state-
“was the quickest and sur- ing a comprehensive reso- Tong said. “Connecticut’s confident Purdue would ment that it “supports work-
est way to get immediate lution to its opioid litiga- focus is on the victims and pay the amount prom- ing toward a global resolu-
relief for Arizona and for tion that will deliver billions their families, and holding ised and wanted more as- tion that directs resources
the communities that have of dollars and vital opioid Purdue and the Sacklers surance that the money to the patients, families
been harmed by the opi- overdose rescue medicines accountable for the crisis would come through. and communities across
oid crisis and the actions of to communities across the they have caused.” In the latest settlement the country who are suffer-
the Sackler family.” country impacted by the Pennsylvania Attorney agreement, New York ing and need assistance.”
But even advocates of the opioid crisis.” General Josh Shapiro Attorney General Leti- “This is the most effective
deal cautioned that it’s not Even with Wednesday’s called the tentative deal tia James accused the way to address the urgen-
yet complete. development, many states “a slap in the face to ev- Sacklers of “attempting to cy of the current public
“I don’t think there’s a have not signed on. Sev- eryone who has had to evade responsibility and health crisis, and to fund
settlement,” said Ohio At- eral state attorneys gen- bury a loved one due to lowball the millions of vic- real solutions, not endless
torney General Dave Yost eral vowed to continue this family’s destruction tims of the opioid crisis.” litigation,” it said.q
whose state was among their legal battles against and greed.”
those supporting it. “There is the Sacklers and the com- He said he intends to con-
a proposal that’s been ac- pany in bankruptcy court. tinue fighting the Sacklers,
cepted by a majority of at- Roughly 20 states have who he said did not have to
torneys general, but there sued members of the Sack- acknowledge any wrong-
are quite a few significant ler family in state courts. doing in their agreement.
states that have not joined Connecticut, Iowa, Mas- “The amount of money
at this point.” sachusetts, Nevada, New that’s being offered in this
“There’s still a lot of tele- Jersey, New York, Pennsyl- settlement doesn’t even
phone calls going on. I vania, North Carolina and scratch the surface for
think we see the outlines of Wisconsin were among the what’s needed,” Hampton
a thing that might be, but states saying they were not said. “We want to see Pur-
it’s not yet,” Yost said in an part of the agreement. due have their day in court.
interview. “Our position remains firm We know more money will
Opioid addiction has con- and unchanged and noth- come if this case goes to
tributed to the deaths of ing for us has changed to- trial.”
some 400,000 Americans day,” Connecticut Attor- Wednesday’s announce-
over the past two decades, ney General William Tong ment came just days after
hitting many rural commu- said in a statement. a group of attorneys gen-
nities particularly hard. “The scope and scale of eral negotiating directly
The lawsuits against Stam- the pain, death and de- with Purdue and the Sack-
ford, Connecticut-based struction that Purdue and lers said they had reached
Purdue paint it as a partic- the Sacklers have caused an impasse in talks. At the