Like, oh my gosh! So, the Sackler family, who totally owned Purdue Pharma, just agreed to this, like, huge $7.4 billion settlement because of their part in the whole opioid crisis thing. This is, like, one of the biggest settlements ever in public health lawsuits.
So, back in 1996, Purdue Pharma launched OxyContin, saying it was this amazing painkiller with, like, hardly any addiction risk. But, surprise! By the early 2000s, people started noticing that, like, tons of folks were getting addicted. In 2007, Purdue and some of its top people pleaded guilty to misbranding the drug and had to pay $634.5 million in fines. But they still made, like, billions of dollars, and the Sacklers got super rich.
In 2017, investigations showed that the Sacklers were, like, totally involved in pushing OxyContin hard, even though they knew it was super addictive. By 2019, with over 2,600 lawsuits coming at them, Purdue filed for bankruptcy to, like, protect themselves. They first offered $3 billion to settle, but people were not having it. In 2021, there was a $4.5 billion deal, but it got overturned because it wasn’t fair enough.
So now, they’ve agreed to this $7.4 billion settlement. The Sacklers will pay up to $6.5 billion, and Purdue will chip in $900 million. Purdue is going to become a public benefit company that makes meds for addiction treatment and overdose reversal, like, at cost. But, like, the Sacklers still aren’t saying they did anything wrong, which is, like, ugh.
Some people feel a little better with the settlement, but others are still super upset. Emily Walden, who lost her son to an overdose, said, “It’s devastating to think that they’ve profited from so much pain and will still walk away wealthy.” And, like, experts are saying that just throwing money at the problem isn’t enough. Dr. Nora Volkow from the National Institute on Drug Abuse mentioned, “This settlement provides critical resources for addiction treatment and prevention, but we need systemic reforms in healthcare and pharmaceutical practices to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
- 1996: Purdue Pharma introduces OxyContin.
- 2007: Purdue and execs plead guilty to misbranding and pay fines.
- 2017: Investigations reveal Sacklers’ deep involvement in aggressive marketing.
- 2019: Purdue files for bankruptcy amid thousands of lawsuits.
- 2021: A $4.5 billion settlement is approved but later overturned.
- Late 2024: A new $7.4 billion settlement is reached.
- January 2025: Settlement funds start going out to communities.
This whole thing shows that even super-rich families can be held accountable, but only like, kinda. It also makes you think about how the legal system lets some people avoid really facing the music. As the U.S. deals with the ongoing opioid crisis, the Sackler name is now, like, a major example of what happens when making money is more important than people’s health.
XOXO,
Valley Girl News
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