With Writing On The Wall In Opioid Epidemic, Sackler Family Shifted Millions To Offshore Accounts, N.Y. Claims In Lawsuit
New York Attorney General Letitia James in her lawsuit says the Sackler family's monetary moves were fraudulent, on the basis that the company was already insolvent or close to it. The suit is just the latest legal fight facing the Sackler family for its role in the opioid crisis. Meanwhile, departing FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has laid out his vision for a new brand of painkillers.
The New York Times:
New York Sues Sackler Family Members And Drug Distributors
As investigators closed in on Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid painkiller OxyContin, more than a decade ago, members of the family that owns the company began shifting hundreds of millions of dollars from the business to themselves through offshore entities, the state of New York alleged in a lawsuit on Thursday. The legal complaint, released at a news conference by the state attorney general Letitia James, was heavily redacted. Even so, it contains striking details alleging systematic fraud not only by the Sacklers but by a group of large but lesser-known companies that distributed alarming amounts of prescription painkillers amid a rising epidemic of abuse that has killed hundreds of thousands of people nationwide. (Rabin, 3/28)
The Wall Street Journal:
Purdue’s Sackler Family Accused Of Fraud In Transfers Of Opioid Profits
Members of the Sackler family who control OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma LP allegedly used a web of corporate entities to transfer funds from the company to themselves, moves the New York attorney general says were fraudulent, on the basis that the company was already insolvent or close to it. An amended lawsuit filed Thursday by New York Attorney General Letitia James against Purdue and eight individual Sackler family members is pushing a novel argument that profits paid to Purdue’s owners should be clawed back because of mounting litigation filed against the company. The claims hinge on a legal theory meant to protect creditors from debtors that try to stash or shield assets for their personal benefit. (Hopkins and Randazzo, 3/28)
Reuters:
N.Y. Accuses Opioid Maker Purdue Of Illegal Fund Transfers To Sacklers
The lawsuit alleged Purdue and other manufacturers engaged in deceptive marketing that downplayed the dangers of the addictive painkillers and accused distributors of failing to detect the diversion of the drugs for illicit purposes. "As the Sackler family and the other defendants grew richer, New Yorkers' health grew poorer and our state was left to foot the bill," James said in a statement. (3/28)
The Hill:
NY Attorney General Sues Opioid Distributors, Sackler Family
“We found that pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors engaged in years of deceptive marketing about the risks of opioids and failed to exercise their basic duty to report suspicious behavior, leading to the crisis we are living with today," James said in a statement. (Burke, 3/28)
Bloomberg:
Opioid Lawsuit: New York Sues Sackler Family, Purdue Pharma
The suit in New York state court, which James said is the most extensive of its kind in the U.S., adds to the potentially massive legal liability that has led Purdue to threaten filing for bankruptcy. Meanwhile, states and local governments have targeted the Sackler family’s wealth in an effort to recoup billions spent on the social costs of opioid addiction. More than 1,600 suits against opioid makers have been consolidated in federal court Ohio, and other cases are pending in state courts. (Larson, 3/28)
Bloomberg:
FDA Chief Scott Gottlieb Lays Out Vision For New Painkillers
Pharmaceutical companies should have to prove that any new opioids work better or are safer than current painkillers, the departing head of the Food and Drug Administration said, laying out a vision for replacing the drugs blamed for sparking an overdose epidemic. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who plans to leave his job at the agency next week, wants companies to develop pain drugs that could eventually allow older opioids to be restricted or to come off the market entirely. (Edney, 3/28)
CQ HealthBeat:
FDA Commissioner Suggests Congress Revisit Opioids, CBD
The outgoing Food and Drug Administration commissioner on Thursday suggested to senators some areas that are ripe for legislation if they want to achieve certain public health goals. In a wide-ranging hearing before the Senate Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee, which provides funding for the FDA, Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told lawmakers that the agency needed a new framework for the way it approves prescription opioid painkillers to ensure that new products would have to represent improvements over existing ones. (Siddons, 3/28)
In other news on the crisis —
The Washington Post:
D.C. Opioid Overdoses: City Officials To Distribute 76,000 Naloxone Kits
D.C. officials have purchased 66,000 naloxone kits, part of a plan to dramatically increase the supply of a lifesaving opioid-overdose antidote that has been scarce on the streets of a city with one of the nation’s highest rates of drug deaths. D.C. officials also intend to buy 10,000 more kits in the coming months, the deputy mayor for health and human services, Wayne Turnage, said in an interview Thursday. The goal is to distribute those 76,000 kits — through community health organizations and police officers — by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, he said. (Jamison, 3/28)
Detroit Free Press:
New Michigan Law Makes It Easier For Patients To Refuse Opioids
Michigan has enacted a new law that allows people to refuse opioid medications by placing a non-opioid advance directive in their medical file. The goal of the new law — which was signed by former Gov. Rick Snyder late last year and went into effect Thursday — is to prevent more people from becoming addicted to opioid pain medication, which is most often a gateway to heroin, and to prevent recovering addicts from being exposed to opioidsand relapsing. (Kovanis, 3/28)
