The Wall Street Journal reports new court documents indicate the Sackler family, owners of OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma, earned more than $4 billion between 2008 and 2016. An unredacted version of the updated complaint viewed by the Journal outlines strategies Purdue pursued to revive waning sales of the opioid painkiller, including exploring opioid-addiction treatment and developing a mail-order business for its opioids to get around traditional pharmacies.
CNN reports Purdue Pharma “filed a motion Wednesday to stay a Massachusetts judge’s order” to publicly release the unredacted version of the complaint by February 1. Purdue attorneys “say the unredacted copy would disclose company trade secrets and other confidential information.” However, Suffolk County Superior Judge Janet Sanders called Purdue’s protests “hardly compelling” enough to keep the information confidential. Sanders says in the court filing that the redacted pages “appear to be discussions of tactics that could be used to promote the sales of OxyContin (particularly in higher doses), to encourage doctors to prescribe the drug over longer periods of time, and to circumvent safeguards put in place to stop illegal prescriptions.”
Utah officials file a new court action against Purdue Pharma. The Salt Lake (UT) Tribune reports Utah Attorney General’s Office and several Utah counties filed a “new court action Wednesday over allegations that” Purdue Pharma “exaggerated the benefits and hid the risks of its prescription drugs, including OxyContin.” The filing, an “administrative action,” permits Utah attorneys to “prove their case and get civil penalties much quicker than with a traditional lawsuit.” The AG’s office also “estimates that while the other lawsuits could languish in the court system for years, this administrative claim could be adjudicated within six months.”
Somerville, Mass. sues opioid makers, distributors. The Boston Globe reports the city of Somerville, Massachusetts “filed a lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court on Wednesday against 19 opioid manufacturers and distributors, alleging negligence and fraud, according to a statement from Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone’s office.” The lawsuit names several large drug companies and distributors, including Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, and Walgreens, as defendants. In filing the complaint, “Somerville joins dozens of other Massachusetts municipalities, including Boston, as well as the state attorney general, that have filed lawsuits targeting the painkiller industry.”
From the news release of the American Association for Justice.
