OxyContin maker reaches tentative opioid-crisis settlement
Source: Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma reached a tentative deal Wednesday with about half the states and thousands of local governments over its role in the nations deadly opioid epidemic, but criticism by several state attorneys general clouded prospects for an end to litigation against the company and the family that owns it.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said the agreement included more money from the Sackler family, which had become a sticking point during the recent talks.
Talks are progressing rapidly, but this is the quickest and surest way to get immediate relief for Arizona and for the communities that have been harmed by the opioid crisis and the actions of the Sackler family, Brnovich told The Associated Press.
Sources with direct knowledge of the talks say that Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue will pay up to $12 billion over time and that the Sackler family will give up control of the company. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
-snip-
By GEOFF MULVIHILL and DAVE COLLINS
46 minutes ago
Read more: https://apnews.com/fcb693fee634449cb8a0dc146251b18d
Nictuku
(3,571 posts)I wonder just who will end up getting all that money? Somehow I doubt it will ever trickle down to the people who were harmed, or even pay the medical bills incurred.
tikka
(757 posts)considering the harm done and lives lost. The rich get away with paying a minuscule portion of their wealth. They can set back and enjoy their billions and the loss of all these lives is a minor PR inconvenience.
Aussie105
(5,215 posts)of US $12 billion, who is this money going to?
Will it bring back the dead?
Will those parents - of whom I am one - who buried one of their children, be reimbursed for the funeral costs, and the pain and suffering that continues years later?
There are things money can't buy. The Sackler family need much more punishment than that. Multiple culpable homicide charges should be laid. There is definite negligence in not seeing potential problems from the start, and the head in the sand attitude while the problem grew.
It would have been so much better if the problem was seen much earlier, action taken, and those deaths avoided.
efhmc
(14,709 posts)to individuals. The money will go for foster care, rehab, teaching, etc.
bucolic_frolic
(42,679 posts)where medicines are hyped by pharma sales reps to doctors who enable the flow to end consumers.