Survivors of opioid epidemic confront family behind OxyContin
FILE – In this Aug. 9, 2021, file photo, fake pill bottles with messages about OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma are displayed during a protest outside the courthouse where the bankruptcy of the company is taking place in White Plains, N.Y. A federal judge on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, has rejected OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement of thousands of lawsuits over the opioid epidemic because of a provision that would protect members of the Sackler family from facing litigation of their own. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
maylen
(NewsNation) — Anger and emotion were apparent in federal bankruptcy court Thursday as survivors of the opioid epidemic got to do something they’ve wanted to do for years: confront members of the Sackler family, who own the company that makes the powerful painkiller OxyContin.
The drug, made by Purdue Pharma, is blamed for addictions and overdoses that have cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
“You got rich off our dead bodies and told us it was our own fault for dying,” Ryan Hampton, of Las Vegas, said. Hampton has been in recovery for seven years, after becoming addicted to OxyContin to treat knee pain.
Stories like Hampton’s were told, one after another, during a Zoom court hearing, which was suggested by a mediator who helped broker a deal that could settle thousands of lawsuits against Purdue over the toll of opioids.
Kay Scarpone told the story of her Joseph, a Marine who died a month before he turned 26.
“When you created OxyContin, you created so much loss for so many people,” Scarpone said. “I’m outraged that you haven’t owned up to the crisis that you’ve created.”
The human side of the opioid epidemic has been detailed on TV shows such as “Dopesick” and in books such as former baseball player Scotti Madison’s “The Other Side of the Earth: Life’s Final Journey for a Father and His Son.”
Three members of the Sackler family were at the virtual hearing. The Sacklers have never unequivocally apologized, but in a statement last week, their lawyers said “while the families have acted lawfully in all respects, they sincerely regret that OxyContin, a prescription medicine that continues to help people suffering from chronic pain, unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities.”
The settlement agreement, which still requires actions by multiple courts to take effect, is estimated to be at least $10 billion over time. It calls for members of the Sackler family to contribute as much as $6 billion over 17 years to fight the opioid crisis.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
