New York Attorney General Letitia James has helped shut down Purdue Pharma for its role in fueling the opioid drug crisis and obtained a settlement of more than $4.5 billion from the Sackler family that ran the firm, her office announced on Thursday
NEW YORK CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2021) New York Attorney General Letitia James has helped shut down Purdue Pharma for its role in fueling the opioid drug crisis and obtained a settlement of more than $4.5 billion from the Sackler family that ran the firm, her office announced on Thursday.
"The agreement will, first and foremost, shut down Purdue Pharma and end the Sackler family's ability to manufacture opioids ever again," a statement from the New York State Office of the Attorney General said. "The agreement will also deliver one of the largest payments that individuals and entities they control have paid to resolve a law enforcement action in U.S. history more than $4.5 billion will be paid to fund prevention, treatment, and recovery programs in communities across the country."
In the statement, Attorney General James said under the terms of the settlement with Purdue, the company will make public tens of millions of documents related to the company and the Sackler family's roles in igniting the opioid crisis a move that she said would lead to "unprecedented disclosure about the role Purdue and the Sacklers played in hooking Americans on opioids".
"For nearly two years, since Purdue Pharma declared bankruptcy, the company and the Sackler family have used every delay tactic possible and misused the courts all in an effort to shield their misconduct," James said. "While no amount of money will ever compensate for the thousands who lost their lives or became addicted to opioids across our state or provide solace to the countless families torn apart by this crisis, these funds will be used to prevent any future devastation."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the number of drug overdose deaths in the United States rose by nearly 5 percent from 2018 to 2019 and quadrupled since 1991.Over 70 percent of the 70,630 deaths in 2019 involved an opioid, the CDC says.
According to health experts, opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, and many others. Opioid pain relievers are generally safe when taken for a short time and as prescribed by a doctor, but because they produce euphoria in addition to pain relief, they are addictive and can be misused.
