TRENTON (WCBS 880) — New Jersey is suing multiple members of the billionaire Sackler family who founded the opioid drug manufacture Purdue Pharma.
Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced the suit Thursday saying the family members we're deeply involved in the day-to-day operations of the company’s manufacturing of the powerful painkiller OxyContin.
“What's most unconscionable about their conduct is the length of it,” said Grewal.
He claims the eight members of the Sackler family were not satisfied with “raking in” millions of dollars in profit and continued to push the addictive drug in order to make more money.
“I mean when you look at Dr. Richard Sackler – who's a medical doctor, who’s taken an oath to protect patients and to help patients – how he's going on sales calls himself to really hone the pitch of salespeople when their sales start dropping,” Grewal notes.
The attorney general says the Sackler family was the driving force behind the use of deceptive marketing campaigns that pushed pills on the elderly and non-drug users.
Grewal is taking the step of now suing the family because of their personal involvement. New Jersey will become the 11th state to take legal action against family members for the toll of the opioid crisis.
A Sackler family spokesperson denied the allegations laid out in Grewal’s 200-page lawsuit and called the suit “baseless.”
“We have always acted properly and are committed to supporting solutions that save lives by preventing addiction and abuse of prescription medicines and treating those who are suffering from addiction,” the statement read.
“Solving this crisis requires collaboration and focus on the real problems our nation needs to address- it will not be solved through litigation,” the spokesperson continued. “Government data makes clear that the opioid crisis is growing rapidly because of illicit fentanyl smuggled in from China and Mexico – and headline-seeking lawsuits like this only distract from the important task of identifying real solutions to that crisis.”