Purdue Pharma owners, the Sackler family, have requested a Massachusetts lawsuit that claims they helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic be thrown out as they say the allegations are misleading and inflammatory. Last week, Purdue and members of the Sackler family settled a related opioid case in Oklahoma.
The Sackler family argue that Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey’s lawsuit mischaracterized internal records to create the impression they personally directed privately-held Purdue’s marketing of painkillers.
Healey’s lawsuit was the first by a state to try to hold Sackler family members personally responsible for contributing to the opioid epidemic.
The Sacklers contend that they did not personally take part in efforts to mislead doctors and the public.
According to Healey, the Sackler's motion is simply the family's trying to avoid accountability.
Read the Reuters report.