Halle Coleman
Staff Writer
The use of opioids are a nationwide epidemic and one of the prescription companies responsible for the widespread destruction is now paying back.
Purdue Pharma, prescription opioid OxyContin makers, filed for bankruptcy Sept. 15 after a string on lawsuits are pending against them.
The file comes as a part of a $10 billion agreement to attempt to settle opioid lawsuits. This agreement involves both state and local governments that have accused Purdue Pharma of mismarketing and deception in regard to opioids.
The settlement would order the Sackler family, Purdue Pharma owners, to release ownership of Purdue into a trust fund controlled by the plaintiffs suing. Additionally, the Sacklers would also have to sell their non-pharmaceutical businesses and contribute at least $3 billion of their personal assets.
Purdue Pharma has been accused of contributing to the nationwide opioid health crisis. OxyContin is one of the most common drugs involved in prescription opioid overdose.
In the 1990s, Purdue Pharma unveiled OxyContin as a non-addictive painkiller. The company encouraged doctors to prescribe their drugs with the promise that misuse, addiction, and overdose would be rare.
The extended-release formula that Purdue Pharma advertised actually made the OxyContin pill more prone to misuse. People started to discover that by smashing, snorting, and injecting the pills, they would be able to bypass the slow-release mechanism. Even as addiction to the pill began to rise, the Sackler family continued to argue that their pills were safe, and that misuse was rare.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “In 2017, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids (including prescription opioids and illegal opioids like heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl) was 6 times higher than in 1999. On average, 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.”
Many states disapprove of the plan to settle including New York and Pennsylvania. According to Reuters, a lawyer for the state of New York told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain that the proposed deal did not address how settlement funds will be allocated among governments. He also said settling states did not appear as interested in conducting thorough investigations of Purdue.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro stated Wednesday, “This apparent settlement is a slap in the face to everyone who has had to bury a loved one due to this family’s destruction and greed,” in a statement obtained by CNN. “It allows the Sackler family to walk away billionaires and admit no wrongdoing.”
On Friday, New York Attorney General Letitia James publically announced that she uncovered roughly $1 billion in wire transfers “between the Sacklers, entities they control and different financial institutions, including those that have funneled funds into Swiss bank accounts.”
James’s office is pursuing a lawsuit against both Purdue and the Sackler family individually. As part of that suit, James issued 33 subpoenas to financial institutions in order to better understand the family’s wealth and socioeconomic influence. The return of one of those subpoenas led to the detection of previously undisclosed $1 billion in wire transfers.
James argues the transfer could mean the family has far more wealth than admitting, which would give those pursuing the settlement allowance to seek more than the $3 billion that has been tentatively agreed to.
Henry McWilliams, a freshmen biology major from Raleigh, N.C., argues that money cannot replace emotional and mental trauma.
“Although people may be receiving money in the lawsuit, that doesn’t change the fact that many people have lost their lives or been permanently effected by opioid overdoses,” said McWilliams.
Aliyah Johnson, a junior psychology major from Chicago, Ill., disagrees.
“I feel like the only reason people are talking about opioids now is because a lot of white people are dying. If it was a lot of black people misusing them, nobody would care. Just like how black people were dying from using crack and no “epidemic” was declared. The government just let them die,” said Johnson.
It has been unannounced whether or not the new allegations against Purdue Pharma will lead to an updated settlement.
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