CRIME PAYS? –
March 15, 2019 – They are the founding family behind (and have long constituted the majority of the board of) Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, the prime accelerant of the opioid epidemic. Since its introduction in 1996, the drug has generated some $35 billion in revenue for Purdue and an estimated $4 billion for the Sacklers. Last June, a lawsuit filed by the Massachusetts attorney general alleged that members of the family knowingly and aggressively pushed the devastatingly addictive painkiller onto doctors and patients, without telling them of the risks. They failed to alert authorities to widespread reports of abuse and even sought to shift blame for the opioid crisis onto addicts.
