Victims of the opioid epidemic confronted the Sackler family members who own Purdue Pharma LP for the first time in bankruptcy court as the OxyContin maker nears a possible exit from chapter 11 that requires $6 billion in settlement payments from its owners, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Addressing three members of the Sackler family who served on Purdue’s board, more than two dozen people shared stories Thursday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., of the disastrous effects physician-prescribed OxyContin, an addictive opioid, had on them, their children, siblings, spouses and parents. Dede Yoder said that her son, Chris, died in 2017 of an overdose at the age of 21 after spending most of her retirement savings on addiction treatment and rehab, which mostly wasn’t covered by health insurance. Doctors first prescribed her son OxyContin when he was 14 years old following two knee surgeries, Ms. Yoder said. Dr. Richard Sackler, Theresa Sackler and David Sackler appeared in the hearing remotely and didn’t respond to victims’ statements. They and other family members consented to hearing victims’ impact statements under a proposed settlement approved on Wednesday by the judge overseeing Purdue’s chapter 11 case. The bankruptcy deal, backed by state attorneys general, would end civil litigation accusing the Sacklers of helping fuel the opioid epidemic and taking improper dividends from Purdue, allegations the family denies.
