. WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) — Lawmakers grilled members of the Sackler family and the current CEO of Purdue Pharma Thursday, demanding more severe criminal penalties and jail time for the individuals who fueled the opioid epidemic.
The hearing marked the first time two members of the Sackler family have testified publicly before the American people. The House Oversight Committee heard from David Sackler, who resigned from the board of Purdue Pharma in 2018, Dr. Kathe Sackler, former vice president of Purdue, who also resigned in 2018 and current CEO and president of Purdue, Craig Landau.
It was a combative hearing, held remotely and marred by technical difficulties. It was also an unusual appearance for the witnesses who are currently negotiating a multibillion-dollar bankruptcy settlement with the federal government after Purdue was charged with the illegal promotion and proliferation of OxyContin.
Each witness offered condolences to the victims of opioid abuse. Each acknowledged some degree of moral or ethical responsibility for the opioid epidemic that has killed more than 450,000 Americans over the last two decades and left millions more struggling with addiction. None believed they were personally responsible for what the company did in promoting and profiting from a highly addictive, deadly opioid painkiller.
This company played a central role in fueling one of America's most devastating public health crises," charged House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Malone, D-N.Y. "With all the evidence that the Sackler family was directly involved in Purdue's criminal actions, they were pulling the strings, in fact, they should not escape accountability...this time around.
Last month, Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty in federal court to three charges, including defrauding the government and illegally pushing high doses of prescription opioids on patients, physicians and prescribers. Since 2007, Purdue has racked up four felony offenses. No members of the Sackler family or individual associated with Purdue has been found personally liable or spent a single day in jail.
Several lawmakers noted the disparity. One congressman compared the Sackler family to Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the Mexican drug kingpin. "He was sentenced to life in prison," said Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt. "Yet no one from the Sackler family is in jail. Many of us think that's not right."
Ranking Republican James Comer of Kentucky explained that his state leads the country in incarcerations, with many people serving time for drug offenses. "They've had to forfeit their assets. They have broken homes and the cost to society is immeasurable. But you all have created the same harm to society, yet you are one of the wealthiest families in America," Comer charged. "I hope that the courts hold you accountable."
Since OxyContin was introduced to the market in 1996, the drug earned Perdue Pharma more than $35 billion. At its peak, OxyContin was responsible for 90% of the company's drug sales. The drug also put the Sacklers on Forbes list of wealthiest families. Before facing a torrent of lawsuits, the family had an estimated net worth of $14 billion.
According to lawsuits and documents submitted to Congress, the family began siphoning off much of that wealth after a 2007 settlement with the Justice Department in which Purdue pleaded guilty to a felony charge of misleading regulators, doctors and patients about the risk of addiction and abuse of OxyContin. The company paid the government a $634 million fine.
Beginning in 2008, Purdue adopted an aggressive marketing strategy for OxyContin. It intentionally targeted physicians who were high-volume prescribers, pushing them to write more prescriptions for more patients and offer higher-dose medication. Sales representatives at Purdue were pressured to sell more OxyContin and reportedly continued to pursue doctors who were flagged by the Drug Enforcement Agency for overprescribing pills.
The aggressive marketing paid off. In 2008, the company doubled its sales from the year before. By 2011, they were making over $3 billion in OxyContin sales That same year, prescription opioid overdose deaths were over 15,000. The Centers for Disease Control described the pain pills saying, "We know of no other medication that is routinely used for a nonfatal condition that kills patients so frequently."
Based on court documents, the Sackler family withdrew over $10 billion from Purdue during the ten years following the 2007 lawsuit. In the previous decade, the family pulled just $120 million in personal profits from the company.
At a moment of peak tension, Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., exclaimed, "Watching you testify makes my blood boil. I'm not sure that I'm aware of any family in America that's more evil than yours."
The sentiment was shared across party lines. "We don't agree on a lot on this committee in a bipartisan way, but I think our opinion of Purdue Pharma and the actions of your family, I think we all agree are sickening," said Comer.
Lawmakers highlighted the disparaging attitudes of members of the Sackler family toward opioid addicts. They cited emails from Richard Sackler, former CEO of Purdue who stepped down from the board in 2019. In the emails from 2001, Sackler vilified opioid addicts as "the culprits and the problem." In another email, he complained about "criminal addictsbeing glorified as some sort of populist victim."
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., read the emails and condemned the witnesses. "People struggling with addiction are not criminals. Your family and Purdue Pharma, you are the criminals. You are the ones who disregard your duties to society and you should be ashamed of yourselves"
The witnesses distanced themselves from Richard Sackler's comments. They acknowledged that addiction is a disease and that addiction science has evolved since 2001.
The hearing lasted more than two and a half hours and drew pointed attention to the crimes of Purdue while addressing the potential for future charges against members of the Sackler family.
Gerald Posner, author of "Pharma: Greed, Lies and the Poisoning of America," noted that putting the story in the public spotlight could prompt one or more state attorneys general or the incoming Biden administration's Department of Justice to reconsider criminal charges.
"Given the outrage expressed today by members of the committee, it's clear that they think it's not enough for the witnesses to be contrite, there has to be justice in this case," Posner said. Other than the Sacklers writing a check for several billion dollars, the only other form of justice would be for the federal or state governments to pursue criminal charges.
"I think the committee's work today means that that happens. That would be a major achievement," Posner continued. That success, however, depends on the Justice Departments and states taking additional, aggressive steps in addition to the upcoming settlement.
The witnesses were cooperative and came to the hearing without Congress having to subpoena their testimony. They emphasized that their work at Purdue was focused on helping patients with pain management and that they were sorry for the harm their drug caused to individuals and families. Some of those families spoke at the beginning of the hearing and described the pain of losing a child to a single dose of OxyContin or after years of addiction.
As recompense, Perdue is undergoing a court-mandated bankruptcy mediation that will essentially wipe out the company as it currently exists. The company filed for bankruptcy in September 2019 as part of its defense against the federal lawsuit and thousands of civil opioid lawsuits. In exchange for protection against litigants and creditors, Purdue reached an $8.7 billion settlement and agreed to become a public trust company.
As a public trust, the board of directors, the Sackler family and prior executive management would be cut off from the company. The government or a third party would take over operations. All profits generated by the new Purdue public trust would go toward paying down the settlement.
The details of the settlement are still under negotiation and could be finalized in the early months of 2021. According to Posner, the public trust will likely continue to sell OxyContin to fund opioid treatment, a concept he described as "madness."
David Sackler estimated the total value of the settlement could be up to $10 billion. He told lawmakers, "It's my belief that the bankruptcy process offers the best and most transparent and most equitable way to address the opioid epidemic."
Under the agreement, billions of dollars would go toward the company's creditors and victims of opioid abuse. The public trust would also provide new Purdue drugs, currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration, to reverse opioid overdoses and help treat opioid addiction