An extraordinary hearing of the House Oversight Committee has just begun, investigating the role of opioid analgesic maker Purdue Pharma, maker of the prescription narcotic OxyContin.
The hearing is titled “The Role of Purdue Pharma and the Sackler Family in the Opioid Epidemic.”
Purdue pleaded guilty last month in federal court to crimes related to the opioid crisis that killed nearly half a million Americans.
However, the clutch of members of the multimillion-dollar Sackler family who own the private company was not charged, although they are being investigated.
The company and six family members have been sued by U.S. cities and counties and by many U.S. states.
Carolyn B. Maloney
(@RepMaloney)The Sackler family and Purdue Pharma helped feed and benefited from the more than $ 35 billion opioid epidemic. Tune in to see today @OversightDems hearing with members of the Sackler family and CEO of Purdue. https://t.co/L2Mgt9tVqc
One of the reasons this hearing is extraordinary is that two of these Sacklers have voluntarily agreed to testify today, which is very unusual. Very, very rarely talk about his role in Purdue and the OxyContin and opioid crisis.
Today, Kathe Sackler, a former Purdue vice president, who served on the company board from 1990 to 2018, appears (remotely) to testify. She is the daughter of one of Purdue’s co-founders.
He is also a witness David Sackler, who is the grandson of one of the co-founders and son of Richard Sackler, who for many years was the president of Purdue. David Sackler served on Purdue’s board of directors from 2012 to 2018. Also says Craig Landau, Purdue’s CEO.
Chairman of the committee Carolyn MaloneyThe Democratic congresswoman from New York said, “No member of the Sackler family has ever admitted to having done anything wrong, nor has they taken any responsibility or apologized. They have not admitted any responsibility.”
But he called the opioid crisis, which was driven by potent prescription opioids, especially OxyContin, “a crime against the American people.”
Purdue Pharma is currently facing a bankruptcy court in New York, having filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2019, in an effort to stop lawsuits, avoid lawsuits and settle with the complainants.
The proceedings extracted have not yet been completed and many aspects of the future of the company and relatives are still up in the air, awaiting the bankruptcy judge’s decision.