The consulting firm offered clients “in-depth experience in narcotics,” from poppy fields to pills more powerful than Purdue’s OxyContin.
Tag Archives: Purdue Pharma
McKinsey Opened a Door in Its Firewall Between Pharma Clients and Regulators
The firm let consultants advise both drugmakers and their government overseers, internal records show. “Who we know and what we know” was part of their pitch.
Why Facebook’s ‘Hubris and Arrogance’ Astound This Attorney General
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey weighs in on social media, the Sacklers and Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.
British Museum to Remove Sackler Name From Its Walls
The decision comes just months after the Metropolitan Museum of Art said it would remove the family’s name from seven exhibition spaces.
‘You Murdered My Daughter’: Relatives of OxyContin Victims Confront the Sacklers
It was the first time, after years of lawsuits, that the family that owns Purdue Pharma was forced to hear directly from families who had lost loved ones to addiction.
Sacklers and Purdue Reach Settlement as Opioids Crisis Continues
The agreement brought holdout states on board, and would settle thousands of lawsuits over the company’s and family’s roles in the opioid epidemic. The Sacklers agreed to pay an extra billion dollars.
Sacklers Raise Their Offer to Settle Opioid Lawsuits by More Than $1 Billion
But they continue to insist on protection from civil liability claims over opioids, an unusual and controversial measure that derailed a previous deal.
How the Sacklers Got Away With It
Patrick Radden Keefe discusses how the family that helped create an overdose crisis that’s killed hundreds of thousands of Americans has escaped accountability.
Tribes Reach $590 Million Opioid Settlement With Johnson & Johnson
Money from the tentative deal would go toward addiction and treatment and would be overseen by Native American tribal leaders.
Judge Overturns Purdue Pharma’s Opioid Settlement
The ruling said the company’s owners, members of the Sackler family, could not receive protection from civil lawsuits in return for a $4.5 billion contribution.
‘Dopesick’ Uses Drama, and Michael Keaton, to Give the Opioid Crisis a Human Face
Based on the book by Beth Macy, the new Hulu series roams the hills of Appalachia and the boardrooms of Purdue Pharma to tell a story of greed and suffering.
Billionaire Sacklers’ immunity threatened as DOJ moves to block opioid deal

Enlarge / PURDUE PHARMA, STAMFORD, Conn. – 2019/09/12: Members of P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) and Truth Pharm staged a protest outside Purdue Pharma headquarters over the recent, controversial opioid settlement. (credit: Getty | Erik McGregor)
The Department of Justice is fighting to strip the billionaire Sackler family of the sweeping legal immunity granted as part of a controversial $4.5 billion opioid settlement.
The department filed a motion late Wednesday to block the implementation of the settlement until appeals can be heard in a higher court. Attorneys for the department argued that some aspects of the deal could go into effect quickly, complicating the appeal, according to NPR. Along with the DOJ, Connecticut, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Washington state are also preparing to fight the settlement.
The Justice Department also requested an expedited hearing within the next two weeks.
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U.S. Seeks to Block Bankruptcy Plan That Would Free Sacklers From Opioid Claims
The Justice Department has been appealing the deal, approved earlier this month.
Betraying the Victims of the Opioid Crisis
The Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case settlement protected the wealthy and ignored those who suffered.
America Desperately Needs a Much Better F.D.A.
The agency that regulates drug safety has become too cozy with the industry it’s supposed to oversee.
Purdue Pharma Is Dissolved and Sacklers Pay $4.5 Billion to Settle Opioid Claims
The ruling in bankruptcy court caps a long legal battle over the fate of a company accused of fueling the opioid epidemic and the family that owns it.
Richard Sackler Says Family and Purdue Bear No Responsibility for Opioid Crisis
In a rare courtroom appearance, the former Purdue Pharma president and board member was evasive and defiant.
Sacklers say they won’t pay $4.5B settlement if judge rejects immunity deal

Enlarge / Members of PAIN (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now), Truth Pharm, and other advocacy groups working in response to the overdose crisis protested the Sacklers’ immunity deal outside US Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York on August 9, 2021. (credit: Getty Images | Erik McGregor)
The Sackler family is threatening to back out of a $4.5 billion opioid settlement if it is not granted broad immunity from lawsuits. The pending settlement between the Sacklers and 15 states includes an immunity provision, but other states oppose it, and a bankruptcy court judge is still considering whether to approve the deal.
Forty-one-year-old David Sackler, a former Purdue Pharma board member and grandson of one of the company’s founders, “vowed in court on Tuesday that the family would walk away from a $4.5 billion pledge to help communities nationwide that have been devastated by the opioid epidemic, unless a judge grants it immunity from all current and future civil claims associated with the company,” The New York Times wrote.
“We need a release that’s sufficient to get our goals accomplished,” Sackler said in testimony via video at a hearing in US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. “If the release fails to do that, we will not support it.” The family is worth $11 billion, a fortune boosted substantially by sales of OxyContin.
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Origins of an Epidemic: Purdue Pharma Knew Its Opioids Were Widely Abused
A confidential Justice Department report found the company was aware early on that OxyContin was being crushed and snorted for its powerful narcotic, but continued to promote it as less addictive.
Sacklers Threaten to Pull Out of Purdue Pharma Opioids Settlement
In a rare court appearance, David Sackler said he and his family would withdraw their pledge to pay $4.5 billion, unless they are granted broad legal immunity.
15 States Reach a Deal With Purdue Pharma Over Opioids
The states, including Massachusetts and New York, agreed to drop opposition to the bankruptcy organization plan of the company, the maker of OxyContin.
An Opioid Case Like No Other: New York vs the Entire Supply Chain
New York’s sweeping lawsuit is the first opioid case in which a jury rather than a judge will decide the outcome.
Judge Clears Purdue Pharma’s Restructuring Plan for Vote by Thousands of Claimants
The ruling was a milestone in yearslong efforts to make the OxyContin manufacturer pay for its role in the opioid crisis, but some plaintiffs feel the plan doesn’t go far enough.
In My Hometown, Opioids Are Still Stealing Lives
A decade ago, it was already a crisis. But it feels like its getting worse.
Book Review: ‘Empire of Pain,’ by Patrick Radden Keefe
Patrick Radden Keefe’s new book is about the Sacklers, the family whose company created the powerful painkiller that ushered in a new era of both pain management and opioid addiction.
Purdue Pharma Offers Plan to End Sackler Control and Mounting Lawsuits
The OxyContin maker filed its long-awaited restructuring plan in bankruptcy court. Revenue from the new company would go exclusively to abating the opioid crisis.
Head of McKinsey Is Voted Out as Firm Faces Reckoning on Opioid Crisis
Partners decided not to keep Kevin Sneader in the top job. Weeks earlier, McKinsey had reached a historic settlement agreement in the U.S. over its advice to drugmakers.
He Lost His Son to an Overdose. Now He’s Taking On the ‘Top Drug Cop.’
One activist is asking the Biden administration to remember the failures that led to the opioid epidemic as it chooses the next head of the F.D.A.
McKinsey Settles for $573 Million Over Role in Opioid Crisis
The consulting firm has reached the agreement with 47 states because of its advice to drugmakers, including Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin.
Sacklers Deny Personal Responsibility for Opioid Epidemic in House Hearing
It was the first time in years that members of the family that owns Purdue Pharma have taken questions publicly, and the exchanges were tense.
McKinsey Issues a Rare Apology for Its Role in OxyContin Sales
The firm faced criticism after a report revealed that consultants had discussed destroying documents related to the opioid business and proposed that a drugmaker pay its distributors rebates for overdoses.
The Sacklers’ Last Poison Pill
A trapdoor in the Justice Department deal with the family’s company might enable them to escape a full accounting of their part in the opioid epidemic.
McKinsey Proposed Paying Pharmacy Companies Rebates for OxyContin Overdoses
Court filings reveal consultants’ talk of a records purge during the opioid crisis, and shed new light on sales advice given to the billionaire Sackler family and their drug company, Purdue Pharma.
Purdue Pharma Pleads Guilty to Role in Opioid Crisis
The admission in federal court brought a formal end to a major investigation that resulted in a multibillion-dollar settlement between the drug maker and the government.
Purdue Pharma Plea Offers Little Solace to Survivors of Opioid Crisis
The company, which produced OxyContin, faces penalties of $8.3 billion. But families of those addicted are skeptical of the tangible benefits.
Purdue Pharma Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges for Opioid Sales
The Justice Department announced an $8 billion settlement with the company. Members of the Sackler family will pay $225 million in civil penalties but criminal investigations continue.
The Sacklers Could Get Away With It
The family behind Purdue Pharma made a fortune on the opioid epidemic. Will they ever truly face justice?
Big Pharmacy Chains Also Fed the Opioid Epidemic, Court Filing Says
New details emerge in a lawsuit asserting that chains including CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens sold millions of pills in small towns but rarely flagged suspicious orders to authorities.