'I’m outraged that you haven’t owned up to the crisis that you’ve created.' Releasing years of anguish and anger, victims of opioid abuse are confronting members of the Sackler family, who they blame for fueling the deadly epidemic, in a court hearing.
Appearing only via audio was Richard Sackler, the former Purdue president and board chair who has said the company and family bear no responsibility for the opioid crisis; he is a son of Raymond Sackler, one of the three brothers who in the 1950s bought the company that became Purdue Pharma. Attending on video were Theresa Sackler, wife of the late Mortimer D. Sackler, another of the brothers; and David Sackler, Richard Sackler’s son.
Jenny Scully, a nurse in New York, gave birth in 2014 while on OxyContin and other opioids prescribed years earlier when she was dealing with both breast cancer and injuries from an accident. She was told her baby would be healthy, Scully said, but the little girl has had a lifetime of physical, developmental and emotional difficulties.
“The nature of today’s proceedings are unique and important,” Drain said to open the hearing. “The past and ongoing impact of OxyContin on individual people has always been of critical importance in this case.”Drain said the Sacklers and others would not be given a chance to respond to the statements from the group of victims, selected by lawyers for creditors in the case. Some of the victims addressed the Sacklers from a law office in New York; others were at their homes.
Sackler family members have expressed regret for the crisis but have never offered an unequivocal apology. The overall settlement, which still requires actions by multiple courts to take effect, provides more than $150 million for Native American tribes and over $100 million for medical monitoring and payments for children born in withdrawal from opioids.
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