Sackler Family Receives Immunity in $6 Billion Opioid Settlement

More information here.

The Sackler family owns Purdue Pharma, the creators of OxyContin, by which they played a major role in creating and profiting from the ongoing opioid crisis. In addition to aggressive marketing, they misled the public about how addictive these painkillers are, and even went so far as to outright deny how addictive OxyContin is.

This immunity protects them from any civil legal claims in exchange for a fine up to $6 billion, part of which will be dedicated to addiction treatment, and part of which will be paid out to those impacted by the opioid crisis, with payouts ranging from $3500 to $48,000.

In addition to the creation of OxyContin, prior to legal proceedings and this fine, Purdue Pharma also opened addiction treatment centers (for profit) to treat opioid addiction.

In light of the damage caused, I think this is such a miniscule consequence, especially when I think of those spending significant amounts of time incarcerated for doing less damage as it relates to drug-dealing.

Pharmaceutical companies make huge profits. They especially are making a killing off Americans, who pay way more for prescription drugs than any other nation.

Purdue Pharma has been chewing Americans up profit-wise. They are part of a lobby group that owns the congress and senate.

I don't see them getting financially punished. The system is corrupt in their favor.

I admit I've invested heavily in pharmaceutical stocks, and they've very highly enriched my retirement fund. But, yes, l know they're scumbags.

Quote by Ironic

They can still be charged criminally, so they're not out of the woods yet.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinehamilton/2023/05/30/court-protects-sacklers-from-opioid-lawsuits-in-purdue-settlement-deal/?sh=e4d4bc734400

This gives me some hope.

But like Buz said, they're too powerful of a lobby for me to believe they'd face any real consequences.

Quote by Buz

Pharmaceutical companies make huge profits. They especially are making a killing off Americans, who pay way more for prescription drugs than any other nation.

Purdue Pharma has been chewing Americans up profit-wise. They are part of a lobby group that owns the congress and senate.

I don't see them getting financially punished. The system is corrupt in their favor.

I admit I've invested heavily in pharmaceutical stocks, and they've very highly enriched my retirement fund. But, yes, l know they're scumbags.

So, you believe they are criminals and scumbags, who should be punished for killing off Americans. But at the same time you support their criminal enterprise financially, to share in their criminal profits. I don't get that.

Please keep on topic. This thread is about the pharmaceutical industry as it relates to the opioid crisis.

I'd love to have about 250 of those original badass oxycontin pills. The same strength that Rush Limbaugh was addicted to for several years.

But I want them for my 89 year old father who is enduring insufferable back, neck and hip pain in addition to not being ambulatory. If he gets addicted to opiods at this point, it might be the most dignified way to pass on.

I'll pay a premium to obtain these pain killers.

I watched a hospice nurse administer an extra hot shot of morphine to my COPD afflicted mother, 10 years ago...to help her transition forward (how I prefer to believe) than to give her just a smidgen of the good stuff, to string her out for another month or two.

The opiod crises... It is all manufactured. Who is to blame? The creators, the pushers, the marketers/advertising - or the front line doctors who were busy prescribing the strongest drugs for people with the slightest of actual aches?

Those kinds of drugs should only be prescribed for very short periods of time by reputable doctors/nurses/practitioners. Everyone else who got greedy - they need to be shaken of every last dime they've earned - or incarcerated for taking the easy way out and prescribing the equivalent of black tar heroin to every single whining patient who had great insurance or easy pay wallets - for minor symptoms.

The drug pushing Sacklers - combined with the tendency of lazy doctors to prescribe opiods for any and every ailment known to man (as well as for hypochondriacs) - since 1971, is probably why a person such as my 90 year old father cannot get more than 15 Tramadols or Valiums or Vicodins (taking one every 8 hours) which might last him 5 days, while he tries to recuperate/heal from cracking his tailbone 3 weeks ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_M._Sackler#

Sackler was an ad man, a salesman extraordinaire. He wasn't a doctor, nor a researcher, nor an inventor.

He was a legal drug dealer/sales man/parasite.

Another example of the courts bailing out the rich. There is no question about what transpired. The Sacklers knew what they were doing, made billions of dollars, killed and ruined hundreds of thousands of people. Will they be held accountable? Of course not, this is America.

The rich can murder for profit all they like, it’s only poor people that can be prosecuted. A guy selling weed on the street will get 20 years, a guy pushing meth in a suit is given preferred stock.

This sort of legal immunity the rich and powerful enjoy is why when the poor rebel it will be with guillotines, not through any constitutionally sanctioned process. The system isn’t broken, it’s working as it was always intended to.