Don’t let Sacklers off the hook for role in opioid crisis

In 2007, Purdue and 3 executives settled misdemeanor charges with the U.S. Department of Justice. In November 2020, Purdue pleaded guilty to 3 felony offenses, admitting to a variety of misrepresentations to the DEA, including that it facilitated “the dispensing of its opioid products, including OxyContin, without a legitimate medical purpose, and thus without lawful prescriptions.” Christina Nolan, U.S. Attorney  for Vermont, said in that DOJ release:  “As today’s plea to felony charges shows, Purdue put opioid profits ahead of people and corrupted the sacred doctor-patient relationship…”.

Now, however, a bankruptcy judge wields the power to extinguish 24 pending state lawsuits intended to bring a modicum of justice to the families victimized by the opioid crisis. 

As reporter Libby Lewis explained recently in the American Prospect, that “leaves the Sackler family members with unknown billions of dollars—unknown because the individual Sacklers are not in bankruptcy—now protected from any future lawsuits, or civil investigations, over the opioid epidemic that helped make their fortune.” 

As Professor Ralph Brubaker explained to Libby Lewis, some lawyers have convinced some bankruptcy courts to extend “the idea of a liability release to go beyond protecting the property of the bankrupt company, to protecting people who aren’t in bankruptcy. “It’s been twisted to do something that wasn’t originally intended: to release somebody from personal liability,” said Brubaker.

Another expert, Professor Adam Levitin, told the New York Times: “It’s not even clear that the bankruptcy court has the jurisdiction to do this,” as the Sacklers are not parties to the bankruptcy themselves.”

Families of opioid victims have established a Sackler Act explainer page. Its history page includes this: “1995: In America, the Sacklers launch OxyContin.  Richard Sackler orders Purdue’s sales representatives to create “a blizzard of prescriptions.” A sales rep later described Richard: “This is the dude that made it happen.”

One branch of the Sackler family has created a rebuttal page. Of course they did. It accuses plaintiffs’ attorneys of creating a “strategically invented false narrative” and state Attorneys General of spreading “false claims” from state lawsuit to state lawsuit.

You can decide who caused the opioid crisis. The Sackler Act simply says, no matter who did, bankruptcy law cannot be “twisted…to release somebody from personal liability.” Tomorrow’s hearing will stream online.

Cover graphic above by Mike Licht via Flickr; Some rights reserved.