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 The wealthy family in a motion on Monday argued that Massachusetts
Attorney General Maura Healey's lawsuit mischaracterized internal
records to create the "false impression" they personally directed
privately-held Purdue's marketing of painkillers.
Her lawsuit, filed in June in Suffolk County Superior Court and
revised earlier this year to include new allegations, was the first
by a state to try to hold Sackler family members personally
responsible for contributing to the opioid epidemic.
The case is among roughly 2,000 lawsuits filed mostly by state and
local governments seeking to hold Purdue and other pharmaceutical
companies responsible for the opioid crisis.
Opioids were involved in a record 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017 in
the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
Healey's complaint cites records to argue that family members,
including Purdue's former President Richard Sackler, personally
directed deceptive opioid marketing while making $4.2 billion from
Purdue from 2008 to 2016.
They did so even after Purdue and three executives in 2007 pleaded
guilty to federal charges related to the misbranding of OxyContin
and agreed to pay a total of $634.5 million in penalties, the
lawsuit said.
But in their motion, the Sacklers said nothing in the complaint
supports allegations they personally took part in efforts to mislead
doctors and the public about the benefits and addictive risks of
opioids.
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They said their role was limited to that of typical corporate board
members who participated in "routine" votes to ratify the
management's staffing and budget proposals.
"Not a single document shows an individual director engaging in any
unlawful conduct regarding the sale of prescription opioids or
ordering anyone else to do so," the Sacklers' lawyers wrote.
Healey, in a statement, called the motion "an attempt to avoid
accountability."
At least 35 states have cases pending against Purdue. Four have also
named Sackler family members as defendants, including Richard
Sackler, Theresa Sackler and Mortimer D.A. Sackler.
Last week, Purdue reached its first settlement in the recent wave of
lawsuits, agreeing with the Sacklers to a $270 million deal with
Oklahoma's attorney general. Oklahoma's lawsuit did not name
Sacklers as defendants.
Purdue had been exploring filing for bankruptcy before the accord's
announcement, Reuters reported in early March.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; editing by Noeleen Walder, Tom
Brown and Bill Berkrot)
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