OxyContin made the sacklers rich. Now they are tearing them up.



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Jacqueline Sackler was tired of it. John Oliver, from HBO, had just used his family's pillory TV show, the clan owned by Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. Sunday night, for nearly 15 minutes, he joined a long line of people accusing the Sacklers of being partly responsible for the opioid crisis in the country.

At the end of the show, Ms. Sackler, married to one of the company's co-founder's sons, sent her an email, as well as in-laws, lawyers, and counselors. "This situation is destroying our work, our friendships, our reputation and our ability to function in society," she wrote.

"And worse, it condemns my children. How is my son supposed to enroll in high school in September?

The Sackler family, with its competing branches, has been agitated for a long time. The arrival of nearly 2,000 lawsuits accusing his company of helping to trigger a public health crisis in America has forced the family to a crossroads as it weighs on the future of the future. " a company that has contributed to the enrichment of its members.

For years, the Sacklers have avoided being publicly linked to the opioid crisis and to OxyContin, a prescription pain reliever containing a derivative of morphine called oxycodone. They have developed an image of global philanthropists, making millions of dollars at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, at Columbia University and at many other institutions, both in the United States and abroad.

The Sackler Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Photo:

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

The multitude of lawsuits, some of which refer to many Sacklers on Purdue's board of directors, have erased the family's reputation in philanthropic, academic and financial circles. Family members have left the boards of not-for-profit organizations. The prestigious museums and universities reject their donations. Some investment funds make their money.

The reaction intensified internal feuds between family members, whose disagreements threatened to try to resolve the dispute, according to emails reviewed by the Wall Street Journal and interviews with dozens of employees and former employees of Purdue and with people who spoke to the Sacklers.

For years, family members have discussed important issues, from corporate strategy to meeting agendas. The conflicts often pitted the two family members who also controlled the closely related Stamford, Connecticut, the founding brothers Mortimer Sackler and Raymond Sackler and their heirs.

In the current legal scrum, family members were not in agreement on the settlement strategy of a dispute with the state of Oklahoma and on how to respond to the demands of the media. The members of the Mortimer party wanted a member of the other party to express regret for the derogatory comments he had made about the drug addicts.

For some family members, the growing number of litigations and the consequences of this litigation take up most of their time, say people who talk to them. Several sacklers have retired from public life.

In the New York philanthropic and artistic circles in which some Sacklers have moved, "rumors that there are breaks in the family and people struggling to cope with this wave of bad news and litigation" are numerous . said Euan Reille, an investment banker who socially knows some of the Sacklers.

Sackler family members contacted for this article asked questions of spokespeople. Both branches of the family said in a joint statement that they were supporting collaborative efforts with Purdue and other stakeholders to find solutions to the opioid crisis.

Asked by the Review on various topics, they said, "This story paints a very misleading and inaccurate picture of our families, our views, and how we approach this dispute."

Trials by cities, states and Native American tribes allege that Purdue has misled the public and physicians about the addictive nature of OxyContin, which Purdue began to sell in 1996. The company and eight Family members named in some lawsuits denied the allegations. In written statements and previous legal documents, they indicated that OxyContin had been approved by the regulatory authorities and stated that its prescriptions represented a small percentage of all opioids and that the company's commercialization was appropriate.

OxyContin pills

Photo:

Toby Talbot / Associated Press

They said they were united in their resolve to resolve all opioid-related litigation. Meanwhile, Purdue Pharma is fighting the weakening of sales and restructuring.

LP's roots go back to 1952, when three Sackler brothers, all psychiatrists, acquired a small predecessor company in New York for $ 50,000. Raymond and Mortimer purchased the older brother Arthur's share after his death in 1987, and Arthur's heirs were no longer involved in Purdue thereafter.

Purdue initially manufactured simple products such as laxatives, cerumen removers and antiseptics. In 1995, he obtained US marketing approval for a breakthrough product, OxyContin, an extended-release opioid designed to last 12 hours to treat moderate to severe pain.

The Purdue sacklers

The family owned Purdue Pharma LP has two branches, descendants of the brothers who founded the company. Some of the board members are accused in some of the lawsuits accusing Purdue of helping to trigger the opioid crisis. They denied the allegations. You will find below the first and second generations of the family, plus a third generation member who is a defendant.

Raymond Sackler (died in 2017)

Mortimer Sackler (deceased in 2010)

Doctor; was president of Purdue Pharma 1999-2003

Director of the Sackler Lefcourt Center for the development of the child

Manages the family investment office

Doctor; founder of the foundation

Robert Mortimer Sackler

(Died)

Investor, married to Jacqueline Sackler

Married Entrepreneur John Hunt

Third wife: Theresa Sackler *

* Former board member of Purdue named defendant in some lawsuits.

Note: Not all family members are listed.

Source: Prosecution and other documents reviewed by the WSJ

Founder non-profit incubator

Raymond Sackler (died in 2017)

Mortimer Sackler (deceased in 2010)

Director of the Sackler Lefcourt Center for the development of the child

Doctor; was president of Purdue Pharma 1999-2003

Manages the family investment office

Doctor; founder of the foundation

Robert Mortimer Sackler

(Died)

Investor, married to Jacqueline Sackler

Married Entrepreneur John Hunt

Third wife: Theresa Sackler *

* Former board member of Purdue named defendant in some lawsuits.

Note: Not all family members are listed.

Source: Prosecution and other documents reviewed by the WSJ

Founder non-profit incubator

Raymond Sackler (died in 2017)

Mortimer Sackler (deceased in 2010)

Doctor; was president of Purdue Pharma 1999-2003

Director of the Sackler Lefcourt Center for the development of the child

Manages the family investment office

Doctor; founder of the foundation

Robert Mortimer Sackler

(Died)

Investor, married to Jacqueline Sackler

Married Entrepreneur John Hunt

Third wife: Theresa Sackler *

* Former board member of Purdue named defendant in some lawsuits.

Note: Not all family members are listed.

Source: Prosecution and other documents reviewed by the WSJ

Founder non-profit incubator

Raymond Sackler (died in 2017)

Doctor; was president of Purdue Pharma 1999-2003

Manages the family investment office

Mortimer Sackler (deceased in 2010)

Director of the Sackler Lefcourt Center for the development of the child

Doctor; founder of the foundation

Robert Mortimer Sackler

(Died)

Investor, married to Jacqueline Sackler

Married Entrepreneur John Hunt

Third wife: Theresa Sackler *

Founder non-profit incubator

* Former board member of Purdue named defendant in some lawsuits.

Note: Not all family members are listed.

Source: Prosecution and other documents reviewed by the WSJ

Purdue has been instrumental in creating many aspects of modern pharmaceutical marketing. For OxyContin, he recruited doctors as paid speakers at resort gatherings, helped fund non-profit organizations focused on pain patients, and doctors with promotional items such as cuddly toys. pill form. Decades earlier, Arthur Sackler had been a pioneer in the marketing methods of the pharmaceutical industry and was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame for Medical Advertising, claiming that he had "contributed to shaping pharmaceutical promotion as we know it today.

Raymond and Mortimer, who lived through the 2000s, also shared control and ownership of the business, a structure that made it difficult to resolve disputes. Other family members were active in the company and up to 10 of them both sat on the board of directors. Both parties chose their own non-family directors and set their salaries under separate guidelines.

The board meetings were noisy and occasional business in which dozens of people participated, in the manner of a "family picnic with PowerPoint presentations," said a former employee. The meetings, held every month for many years, could last several days. Long-time corporate lawyers have generally led them.

Mortimer's family members were known to staff and advisors as "Side A" for the type of stock they owned and Raymond as "Side B". The relations between the brothers were strained for years. The brothers sat opposite sides at council meetings and communicated through intermediaries, said the people who attended.

According to a person present, a few years ago, Mortimer had tried to hit Raymond, but, missing him, had hit a lawyer of the company in between.

Former President of Purdue Pharma, Richard Sackler

Photo:

No credit

The reasons for the strain are obscure, although some close relatives have stated that Mortimer was opposed to Raymond's son Richard Sackler becoming president in 1999, a position he held until 2003. Clashes between Richard and two children of Katharine Sackler and Mortimer DA Sackler – explained much of the fighting at council meetings, according to several people attending the meeting.

One of the sources of tension was when to take profits from the company. Mortimer's heirs, more numerous, wanted to do it more often, while the Raymond party was more inclined to let Purdue reinvest in its activities, according to people familiar with the situation.

Purdue has sold more than $ 35 billion worth of OxyContin since its introduction. Since 2007, Purdue has distributed more than $ 4 billion in profits to its owners, according to civil claims.

Sometimes the family planned to sell Purdue. Raymond's members were generally opposed to a sale, said people close to the company.

In addition, the Sacklers often could not agree on the types of assets to buy. The risk-averse board reviewed dozens of potential acquisitions over the years.

At a meeting held in Europe in 2016, Kathe Sackler said that the board should claim more authority and was not just a "secretarial". Cousin Jonathan Sackler, on Raymond's side, launched a joke about whether she meant the triple-crown racehorse, said the people who were there. Kathe apologized, they said.

From the start of OxyContin sales, Purdue has deployed hundreds of sales representatives to call doctors and convince them to write more OxyContin prescriptions. According to a former sales representative and a 2003 report by the United States Bureau of General Accounting, he had a bonus system that was considered the most lucrative in the industry.

The GAO report called "OxyContin Abuse and Diversion and Efforts to Solve the Problem". He cited a revised label, approved in 2001, stating that OxyContin was abused "by crushing, chewing, snorting or injecting the dissolved product. "The Food and Drug Administration officials said they did not expect the abuse to spread," the report said.

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In 2007, Purdue and three family members who were not family members pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges aimed at misleading the public about OxyContin's dependence between 1995 and 2001. They have accepted a fine of $ 634.5 million. with the US government. In 2013, the United States stated that Purdue had met the requirements of the agreement.

At least one local Purdue attorney has considered 2007 pleas as a way to protect former president Richard Sackler from legal exposure, according to people close to the case.

In a written statement to the newspaper, Purdue said he pleaded guilty to resolving the problem and accepting responsibility "for the fault committed by some superiors and employees of Purdue," and that it was "wrong to assert that the guilty plea was to protect Richard Sackler "or whoever.

In a separate written statement, Raymond's heirs suggested that the 2007 agreement aims to protect the "lies" of family members.

After the pleas, the company and her family felt that their legal problems with OxyContin were behind them. But about a decade later, municipalities affected by opioid addiction, which claimed the lives of about 218,000 people in the United States in two decades, began filing lawsuits accusing Purdue and several other drug makers of distributors to have created a health crisis.

Most lawsuits have been consolidated in a federal court in Ohio, where companies and plaintiffs have been working for more than a year to reach a settlement.

Since 2010, Purdue has sold OxyContin in a form designed to be more difficult to use. Early last year, Purdue stopped promoting the drug and removed the last members of its sales force. The last member of the Purdue board of directors' family has left this year.

The Sacklers continue to own the company through family trusts and will have to agree on its future, including whether to include a bankruptcy filing, an idea the company has been considering for several months.

Opioids in numbers

OxyContin is a sustained-release version of oxycodone, an opioid for prescription pain treatment that has been around for decades. In 2010, Purdue launched a version of OxyContin designed to be more difficult to use.

OxyContin's share of total US oxycodone prescriptions has been declining since 2010.

However, OxyContin represents more than

70% of sales of oxycodone in the United States

Prescription deaths, opioids and overdose in the United States

The Sacklers answer these questions in the same way that they control Purdue: on separate tracks. Every part of the family has its own law firm and its own public relations firm, just like the company. If both parties have declared that they want to reach an agreement that would give them the until recently, Raymond's case was more interested in fighting these charges, according to several people aware of it.

A disagreement occurred late March, shortly before Purdue said he would settle with Oklahoma for $ 270 million. Attorney David Bernick, representing Raymond's heirs, was concerned that the by-law would encourage other plaintiffs to seek similar amounts and wanted Purdue to request a reorganization of the bankruptcy, according to knowledgeable people. .

The family finally agreed that the settlement would allow Purdue to avoid an impending trial date and would have time to eventually settle more cases and proceed with a restructuring through a bankruptcy filing. Mr. Bernick refused to discuss a customer case.

Family members were not in agreement on how to respond to media inquiries regarding emails sent by Richard Sackler as president, made public in court proceedings this year. In an email from 2001, he wrote: "I am going to tell you something that will totally change your belief that addicts do not want to be addicted. This is factually false. They are addicted again and again. "

Mortimer's son, Mortimer D.A. Sackler and his wife, Jacqueline Sackler, found these notes embarrassing and horrified when they became public, according to people who spoke to the couple. They were family members who wanted Purdue's former president, Richard, to go further than to call the unresponsive emails and express remorse.

Richard's son, David, supported this approach in a media investigation, but did not believe John Oliver's HBO show in April was an appropriate forum for such a statement, people familiar with the issue said. topic.

Richard recently stated in a statement and through a spokesperson that he had learned more about addiction and had compassion for addicts.

Jacqueline Sackler and Mortimer D.A. Sackler

Photo:

Nicholas Hunt / PatrickMcMullan.com

Some Sacklers who are not involved with Purdue have accused Richard of being blamed. Arthur Sackler Jr., the son of the deceased brother before the introduction of OxyContin, had a heated discussion with Richard at the end of last year in a conference room at the company's headquarters, accusing him of tarnishing the surname, according to two people close to the exchange.

According to internal emails and interviews with people who spoke with the Sacklers, the family seems united: a belief that they are not responsible for fueling the drug crisis.

Raymond's heirs generally believe that the company may have made mistakes almost two decades ago and blame the old leaders, but feel that family members should not be held responsible for years later. after their interlocutors. They regret not being more proactive in asserting the family that they are not responsible for the opioid crisis.

For Nilman Sackler Lefcourt, daughter of Mortimer, litigation and scrutiny divert her work from running a non-profit organization focused on the mental health of children and parents, according to a friend, Patricia Nachman . "She says," It's not that we've done everything right, but it's not at that point that it seems to be in the press, "said Dr. Nachman.

Jacqueline Sackler, in the e-mail she sent after John Oliver's show in April, wrote: "I have not seen anything illegal or even immoral that what this company did. I have seen bad taste and disrespectful. "

Ms. Sackler criticized the family's communication strategy and said she was the hallmark of the nation. She expressed her concern about the impact of the critics on the Sacklers on her family. "Lives of children are being destroyed," she wrote.

Main illustration: Sonia Pulido; Photos used in illustration: Jacqueline, Mortimer D.A .: Nicholas Hunt / Patrick McMullan; Jonathan: Sylvain Gaboury / Patrick Mcmullan; Kathe: Nicholas Hunt / Patrick McMullan; Beverly, Raymond: Hollandse-Hoogte / ZUMA Press; Mortimer, Theresa: Alan Davidson / REX /

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Write to Jared S. Hopkins at [email protected]

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