A day after the announcement of a massive, tentative settlement of perhaps 1,000 lawsuits against opioid maker Purdue Pharma, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Thursday morning that he is suing the company's founders and owners over their role in spurring Pennsylvania's addiction crisis.
The Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma, "seems to be concerned with only one thing — keeping their hands on the ill-gotten gains they made while pumping our commonwealth full of OxyContin," Mr. Shapiro said in a statement, referring to the potent oxycodone formulation blamed by some for spurring the opioid epidemic.
"Through our negotiations with Purdue Pharma, it became crystal clear the Sacklers have no intention of taking any ownership for engineering an epidemic that claims the lives of 12 Pennsylvanians each day," he continued.
Mr. Shapiro has been one of the leaders of a group including most of the state attorneys general that has been investigating, and negotiating with, Purdue Pharma and other opioid makers and distributors for years.
His office sued Purdue in May, focusing on what it alleged was a deliberate effort to swamp doctors' offices with sales representatives armed with deceptive claims about the safety and effectiveness of OxyContin.
Wednesday, upon the announcement of a tentative settlement between Purdue, the Sacklers and around half of the 2,000 governmental plaintiffs that are suing it, Mr. Shapiro called that pact “a slap in the face to everyone who has had to bury a loved one due to this family’s destruction and greed.”
“This is far from over,” he said.
He wasted little time in announcing his next step, which a press release from his office Thursday described as a claim "that certain members of the Sackler family are personally liable for the devastation of the opioid crisis because they directed, controlled, and participated in this deadly campaign of deception."
The complaint was filed under seal "as legally required" in Commonwealth Court.
The bulk of the cases against Purdue and other opioid manufacturers and distributors are being handled in the federal court for the Northern District of Ohio, in Cleveland.
A spokeswoman for Purdue said the company had no comment.
“The [Sackler] family supports working toward a global resolution that directs resources to the patients, families and communities across the country who are suffering and need assistance," wrote a spokeswoman for members of the Mortimer D. Sackler and Raymond Sackler families, in response to a request for comment on Mr. Shapiro's announcement. "This is the most effective way to address the urgency of the current public health crisis, and to fund real solutions, not endless litigation.”
At least eight Pennsylvania counties are part of the contingent that is pursuing a prompt settlement with Purdue. Those counties include, locally, Beaver, Crawford, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland, and are represented by a team of law firms including Robert Peirce & Associates.
"It's about time that they admitted responsibility for their role in bringing about this crisis, and this problem," said Robert N. Peirce Jr. on Thursday. "But negotiations are still ongoing. It's too early to give any predictions as to how much is being paid to whom. And we anticipate at least another week of negotiations."nt.
Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh in May 2018 sued eight companies that have been involved in the opioid business.
"We are hopeful that a final settlement agreement can be reached that will provide prompt and significant support to our communities for the epidemic that we believe Purdue – along with other companies – have caused to Allegheny County," wrote county solicitor Andrew Szefi, in an email response to questions. "We’re going to wait to see the finalized proposed settlement terms and then consider our options at that point."
A city spokesman did not directly address whether its attorneys are angling to be part of the emerging settlement.
"Obviously, we filed the lawsuit to seek support for the city and its residents due to the epidemic Purdue and other companies caused, and we hope a final settlement, once it is reached, will provide that," spokesman Timothy McNulty said in an email response to questions.
Mr. Shapiro said that the Sacklers "shamelessly came into our commonwealth and preyed on senior citizens, veterans, and those suffering from substance use disorder.
"The Sacklers' mission to avoid accountability and transparency stops here. The lawsuit I filed on behalf of all Pennsylvanians seeks to require this family of billionaires, who orchestrated opioids into as many doctor’s offices, pharmacies and medicine cabinets as possible, takes responsibility for the pain they caused.”
The settlement announced Wednesday would put Purdue Pharma into bankruptcy, and would entail a payment of $3 billion by the Sacklers to the plaintiffs, followed by another $1.5 billion they would raise by selling another company, Mundipharma. Future profits from the sale of OxyContin would also go to the plaintiffs, raising the potential value of the settlement to a reported $12 billion.
OxyContin — marketed as an almost-addiction-proof opioid — has a special place in the etiology of the opioid epidemic. It is blamed by some for spearheading an increase in opioid prescribing, which primed the pump for the surge in heroin addiction, and the many deaths due to that street drug, painkillers and the super-potent, illicit strains of fentanyl that now contaminate much of the illicit narcotics supply.
In southwestern Pennsylvania, drug overdose deaths peaked at 1,427 in 2017, before dropping to 862 last year.
Rich Lord: rlord@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1542. Twitter: @richelord.
First Published: September 12, 2019, 11:44 a.m.
Updated: September 12, 2019, 7:38 p.m.