NJ Suing Sackler Family Over Lethal Toll of Drugs Made by Purdue Pharma

More tzooris for the Sacklers.

The state of New Jersey is taking eight family members to court because of the drugs manufactured by the family business, Purdue Pharma.

By: James McCooney

The lawsuit, filed last Thursday by Attorney General Gurbir Grewal in Superior Court in Essex County, NJ, says the Sackler family “built a multi-billion-dollar drug empire based on addiction. Despite knowing the harms that would result, the Sacklers drove Purdue to pursue deceitful sales campaigns for OxyContin and other highly addictive opioid painkillers.”

Sackler representative Nikki Ritchie told the press that the family called the lawsuit ‘baseless.” The four-county lawsuit names former Purdue CEO and President Richard Sackler, along with Jonathan D. Sackler; Dr. Kathe Sackler; Ilene Sackler Lefcourt; Mortimer D.A. Sackler; Beverly Sackler; Theresa Sackler; and David A. Sackler.

“Purdue sells the prescription painkiller OxyContin and is owned by members of the Sackler family, who have made at least $4 billion in the last decade from the drug company, according to court documents made public in Massachusetts earlier this year,” explained the Associated Press.

For those keeping count, New Jersey is one of a dozen states involved in lawsuits aimed at family members “over the toll of opioids, prompting Purdue Pharma to announce in March it was considering legal options including bankruptcy that could upend the ongoing lawsuits against the company. Several states have announced similar allegations against the Sackler family in the past month,” AP added. “About 2,000 state, local and tribal governments have sued Purdue or other drug makers and distributors over opioids. Most of those suits have been consolidated under one federal judge who is pushing for a settlement.”

Just weeks ago, as reported by The Jewish Voice, The Metropolitan Museum of Art said it would not rename its Sackler Wing — but instead would say no to any future donations made by the family, once again due to its connection to OxyContin.

The politically calculated decisions were a direct result of the popular fury concerning the family’s part in the ongoing opioid crisis. “The museum takes a position of gratitude and respect to those who support us, but on occasion, we feel it’s necessary to step away from gifts that are not in the public interest, or in our institution’s interest,” Daniel H. Weiss, the president of the Met, told the New York Times in an interview. “That is what we’re doing here.”

Not wanting to be left out, the state of Vermont is also suing the eight members of the Sackler family. The lawsuit makes the claim that family members violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act, were unjustly enriched, and created a public nuisance.