Purdue Pharma settlement is an insult to human lifeAs of May 1, 2026, the Purdue Pharma settlement took effect, dissolving the company to create a new public-interest entity, Knoa Pharma, which is supposed to combat the opioid crisis. This followed the final criminal sentencing. The current CEO had admitted the company gave kickbacks to doctors and deceived government drug regulators regarding the safety of Oxycontin.
According to the Associated Press, the judge appeared to be on the verge of tears April 28 as she listened to five hours of testimony from families who lost loved ones to the opioid epidemic, as well as those who have struggled with opioid use disorder after being prescribed Oxycontin. This was the first time victims and family members were heard in a courtroom regarding the impact of Purdue’s criminal actions.
Purdue penalties show emptiness of capitalist “justice”The April 28 sentencing represents the biggest settlement in the saga of Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family which owned it, for their role in promoting as “safe” the immensely profitable drug Oxycontin. From 1995-2017 Purdue took in $35 billion in total cumulative revenue from Oxycontin sales. The negotiated settlement shields the Sackler family from personal liability for causing thousands of deaths and countless suffering. While the Sacklers are paying $7.4 billion of their “own” money into the settlement, this money comes from the $10 billion in Purdue profits that they moved into their personal trusts.
Other key Purdue settlement numbers
0: Sackler family criminal accountability for the actions of Purdue.Under the settlement they are shielded from future civil litigation, though victims who opt-out of the payment fund may pursue individual lawsuits.
$8,000-$16,000: The value established by the settlement for a human life lost or ruined due to Purdue’s malfeasance
55%: Percentage of victims who filed claims by a 2021 deadline who may be excluded due to strict documentation requirements
$5.42 billion: settlement funds to state and local governments
$225 million: settlement funds to federal government
$394.91 million: settlement funds to insurance companies
15 years: How long it will take for the $7.4 billion settlement to be paid
These facts raise a lot of questions. Why are the parasitic insurance companies getting a nearly $400 million payout while the lives of those killed by Purdue are deemed worth no more than $16,000 a piece? Why will it take so long for the Sacklers to pay off the entire $7.4 billion, when the crisis they created has been going on for more than 30 years?
Probably the most important question is: Why are the Sacklers and top executives of Purdue not being held personally accountable, criminally or civilly? After all, countless people in communities all over the U.S. have been sent to prison for many years after being found guilty of selling drugs that are chemically identical to OxyContin.
What makes the Sacklers different from ordinary drug dealers? The short answer is: They are filthy rich capitalists and the “justice” system we live under serves to protect the interests of the rich. Technically, one differentiator lies in the bankruptcy process. In 2019, facing a slew of lawsuits with total damage claims adding up to trillions of dollars, Purdue filed for bankruptcy. In a typical bankruptcy, the company files because it owes more than it has: liabilities exceed assets.
The court process then divides up the assets remaining to pay off the debts of the company. If a company has not paid wages to workers, they are considered creditors in the bankruptcy. However, bankruptcy laws prioritize the order in which creditors will be paid off. First in line to be paid are what are called “secured creditors” like banks. In many cases, by the time these creditors are paid, there isn’t anything left to pay the workers. This is a powerful example of how the legal system in our society upholds and protects capitalists over working people.
In the case of Purdue’s bankruptcy, the company continued to be profitable selling its drugs. That wasn’t why the company was facing bankruptcy. By the early 2000s, the truth about Purdue’s aggressive marketing and false claims about OxyContin began to come out. The entire U.S. was seeing an increase in opioid overdoses as well as an increase in heroin use. People from all over the country were personally impacted by tragic overdose deaths and anger was mounting. People began filing lawsuits.
“Anticipating that they might be liable in these lawsuits, both civilly and criminally, the Sackler family decided to reallocate revenue from Purdue Pharma to their own trusts and holding companies. This reduced the financial standing of Purdue Pharma to fend off the lawsuits. Eventually, by 2019, all Sackler family members that were on the board of directors of Purdue Pharma had resigned.” (Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, Wikipedia)
Thus, the Sacklers played a sort of shell game, moving the money into their personal coffers instead of the company’s, and stepping down from the board. (Could it be that they were trying to evade responsibility while keeping the profits?)
Interestingly, in 2024, the majority on the Supreme Court said that because of these actions, the Sacklers were “non-debtors” and thus not entitled to the kinds of protections usually granted to debtors in bankruptcy proceedings. However, this didn’t lead to the Sacklers actually being held accountable. The settlement negotiations, intertwined with bankruptcy proceedings, continued until the final sentencing which concluded on April 28.
The Sacklers agreed to pay the $7.4 billion out of their “personal” funds, over the course of 15 years, while not admitting any fault and being shielded from future civil lawsuits. The only exception to this would be suits filed by victims who had declined the payout determined in the settlement.
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https://liberationnews.org/purdue-pharma-settlement-is-an-insult-to-human-life/