THE RICH GET RICHER –
Sept. 5, 2021 – On Wednesday, the court approved a deal for the dissolution of the opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma, which kicked off the opioid epidemic two decades ago with its illegal drive to sell a high-strength painkiller, OxyContin. Purdue’s owners, members of two branches of the now-notorious Sackler family, are estimated to have made more than $10bn from the drug – even as the opioid crisis claimed more than 600,000 lives, with the toll climbing higher by the year. Astonishingly, the Sacklers seem to have been able to work the bankruptcy process to buy themselves immunity from accountability in the civil courts – in return for handing over only a small fraction of the money they made from OxyContin – and still remain one of the richest families in the country. All while continuing to deny their responsibility for their role in creating the opioid crisis.
At this point Purdue Pharma’s reputation is little better than that of a Mexican cartel.
