Summary and Analysis
An update on the Sackler settlement near the hearing which will determine the outcome of the consolidated settlement.
The agreement provides for $4.5 billion to be paid out “over nine or ten years” and the establishment of a “public repository for more than 30 million documents from Purdue and the Sacklers.”
The primary controversy surrounding the agreement is the broad liability shield it would grant to a large list of Sackler family members as well as “1,000 other individuals, including contractors and consultants, and protect them from lawsuits that had nothing to do with opioids.”
The type of release demanded by the Sacklers is only allowed in some federal circuits whereas others prohibit it according to the article.
The federal judge overseeing the proceeding is expected, according to the article, to approve the settlement.
Excerpted from New York Times
A scion of the Sackler family, the billionaire owners of Purdue Pharma, 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.
Absent that broad release from liability, said David Sackler, 41, a former board member and grandson of one of the founders, the family would no longer support the deal that the parties have painstakingly negotiated over two years to settle thousands of opioids lawsuits brought by states, cities, tribes and other plaintiffs.
