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Families who lost loved ones because of the opioid crisis protested in the Suffolk Superior Court in Boston when Purdue Pharma's lawyers entered the courthouse to review the prosecutor's situation Massachusetts General against the company on January 25th.
Suzanne Kreiter / Boston Globe via Getty Images
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Suzanne Kreiter / Boston Globe via Getty Images
Families who lost loved ones because of the opioid crisis protested in the Suffolk Superior Court in Boston when Purdue Pharma's lawyers entered the courthouse to review the trial at trial Attorney General of Massachusetts against the company.
Suzanne Kreiter / Boston Globe via Getty Images
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The first nine months of 2013 began as a record year for the Sackler family, owners of the drug company that produces OxyContin, the addictive opioid painkiller. A lawsuit filed by the Massachusetts Attorney in the United States would have cost the family $ 400 million during this period, the Attorney General of Massachusetts said.
However, when profits fell in the fourth quarter, the family would have supported the company's intense efforts to increase the number of sales reps visiting doctors and other prescribers.
Purdue hired a consulting firm to help representatives target "high-demanding" doctors, many in Massachusetts. A doctor in a southern Boston city wrote 167 additional prescriptions for OxyContin after sales representatives increased their number of visits, according to the latest version of the lawsuit filed Thursday in the Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston.
The lawsuit claims that Purdue allegedly paid Sackler family members generated more than $ 4 billion between 2008 and 2016. Eight family members who sat on the board of directors or members of management, as well as several directors and officers of Purdue are named in the lawsuit. This is the first lawsuit among hundreds of others that have been filed across the country to accuse the Sackler of taking advantage of the harm done to people taking opioids from society and the world. kill.
WBUR, along with several other media, sued Purdue Pharma for the purpose of forcing disclosure of the previously expurgated information that was filed in the Massachusetts Superior Court case. When a judge ordered the release of documents with little or no redactions this week, Purdue filed two appeals and was lost.
Read the documents here or below: ]
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's complaint states that former CEO of Purdue Pharma, Richard Sackler, suggested that the family sell the company or, if they were not able to find a buyer, take advantage of the profits of the manufacturer and "distribute more cash flow" to themselves.
It was in 2008, a year after Purdue pleaded guilty to a crime and agreed to stop misrepresenting the addictive potential of his extremely profitable painkiller, OxyContin.
The complaint says that the Sackler voted to pay $ 250 million to the board of directors. Another installment in September was $ 199 million.
The company continued to receive complaints about OxyContin similar to those that resulted in the 2007 guilty plea, according to unredacted documents filed in this case.
In 2009, family members of the OxyContin victims who had harmed OxyContin had engaged in resolute lawsuits, which allowed the company to improve its business. marketing the drug to physicians by spending $ 121.6 million in sales reps for the coming year. The Sacklers paid $ 335 million that year.
According to the complaint, members of the Sackler family led efforts to boost sales. A family lawyer and other board members are challenging the power to make this claim in Massachusetts. A claim on jurisdiction in the case was not heard. This attorney did not respond to a request for comment on the most recent allegations.
In a statement, Purdue Pharma stated that Healey's complaint was "in part". from an ongoing effort to isolate Purdue, blame him for the whole opioid crisis and judge the case in a court of public opinion rather than before the court system.
Purdue then accused Healey of "defaming" Purdue in a complaint "riddled with blatantly inaccurate allegations." Purdue said he had more than 65 initiatives aimed at reducing the misuse of opioids. The company claims that Healey fails to recognize that most opioid overdose deaths are currently due to fentanyl.
Purdue objected to the release of many sections of the complaint The company's lawyers said at a hearing held Jan. 25 that they had agreed to disclose much more information in Massachusetts than those that were approved by a judge Supervising Hundreds of Consolidated Businesses in Ohio According to the Senate Report, Purdue appealed this week to federal and federal authorities to prevent publication of compensation figures.and other information related to the Purdue project to engage in the treatment of opioid addiction.
Richard Sackler wrote that Purdue should "pound" them in every way possible.
While Purdue Pharma publicly denied that its opioids were addictive, the company the reco A plan was developed and developed to benefit even more, says the complaint.
Kathe Sackler, a board member, introduced Project Tango, a secret plan to develop Purdue beyond the mere provision of painkillers, a drug, Suboxone, to treat addicts.
"Addictive opioids and opioid addiction are" naturally linked, "she reportedly wrote in September 2014.
According to the lawsuit, Purdue staff wrote:" This is a market attractiveness, a high unmet need for vulnerable, underserved, stigmatized, substance abuse, addiction and addiction populations. "
They predicted that 40-60% of patients who would buy Suboxone for the first time times would relapse and should take him back, which meant more income.
Purdue never succeeded, but Healey argues that this and other internal documents show the greed and contempt of the family for the well-being of patients.
A version of this story was published for the first time on the CommonHealth of WBUR. You can follow @mbebinger on Twitter.
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