Purdue Pharma's Sackler family 'will keep their billions' and are prepared to pay out $3 billion to opioid crisis victims - but only if they face no criminal liability - as bankruptcy judge suggests no claims can be made against individual family members

  • The company entered bankruptcy protection last year in an effort to settle thousands of lawsuits accusing it of helping spark an opioid addiction
  • Lawsuits said the company, and in some cases the Sacklers, used deceptive marketing and took other steps to flood communities with prescription opioids
  • Now it is reported the Sacklers, who own Purdue Pharma, are prepared to pay out $3 billion to opioid crisis victims - but only if they face no criminal liability 
  • Bankruptcy judge Robert Drain has also suggested a release should bar other authorities from bringing suits against the Sacklers in the future 
  • Democratic Senator Sen. Tammy Baldwin last month questioned Purdue Pharma's decision to file for bankruptcy in Judge Drain's jurisdiction
  • Both Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers have denied allegations against them

By Lauren Fruen For Dailymail.com

Published: | Updated:

Purdue Pharma's wealthy Sackler family are set to keep their billions under a settlement with the Trump administration, according to reports. 

The company entered bankruptcy protection last year in an effort to settle thousands of lawsuits accusing it of helping spark an opioid addiction and overdose epidemic that has contributed to more than 400,000 deaths in the U.S.   

The lawsuits said the company, and in some cases the Sacklers, used deceptive marketing and took other improper steps to flood communities with prescription opioids. Oxycodone is the main ingredient in OxyContin, made by Purdue Pharma. 

Now The New Yorker reports the Sacklers, who own Purdue Pharma, are prepared to pay out $3 billion to opioid crisis victims - but only if they face no criminal liability. In court papers the family say they will make the payout if released from 'all potential federal liability arising from or related to opioid-related activities'.

Bankruptcy judge Robert Drain has also suggested a release should bar other authorities from bringing suits against the Sacklers in the future, according to The New Yorker. He told the court in February the 'only way to get true peace, if the parties are prepared to support it and not fight it in a meaningful way, is to have a third-party release'. 

One attorney told The New Yorker: 'Criminal liability is not something that should be sold. It should not depend on how rich they are. It's not right.' 

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Lawsuits said the company, and in some cases the Sacklers, used deceptive marketing and took other improper steps to flood communities with prescription opioids. Oxycodone is the main ingredient in OxyContin, made by Purdue Pharma

Lawsuits said the company, and in some cases the Sacklers, used deceptive marketing and took other improper steps to flood communities with prescription opioids. Oxycodone is the main ingredient in OxyContin, made by Purdue Pharma

At least 430,000 deaths in the U.S. since 2000 have been connected to overdoses from opioids, a category of drug that includes prescription pills such as Oxycontin and Vicodin along with illicit drugs such as heroin and illegally made fentanyl. 

Both Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers have denied allegations against them.  

In August a number of US states claimed they are owed $2.2 trillion to address harm from the drugmaker's alleged role in America's opioid epidemic, accusing the company in new filings of pushing prescription painkillers on doctors and patients while playing down the risks of abuse and overdose. 

A total of 47 states are suing the drugmaker; 29 have named members of the Sackler family as defendants. 

Under negotiations with Donald Trump's Justice Department the company would pay a fine but not no individual executives would face charges. 

Democratic Senator Sen. Tammy Baldwin last month questioned Purdue Pharma's decision to file for bankruptcy in Judge Drain's jurisdiction. 

White Plains in New York has become popular for large corporate restructurings because Drain is the only judge overseeing chapter 11 cases there. 

Purdue changed its registered address shortly before filing.  

A Purdue spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal: 'The bankruptcy venue is proper. White Plains is about 15 miles from our corporate headquarters, and is the closest federal bankruptcy courthouse.'    

The Purude Pharma headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut is pictured

The Purude Pharma headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut is pictured

In filings made as part of Purdue's bankruptcy proceedings, the states said Purdue, backed by the wealthy Sackler family, contributed to a public health crisis that has claimed the lives of roughly 450,000 people since 1999 and caused strains on healthcare and criminal justice systems. 

The filings cited more than 200,000 deaths in the U.S. tied directly to prescription opioids between 1999 and 2016.

In large states such as California and New York, claims alone totaled more than $192 billion and $165 billion, respectively. Forty-nine U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and various territories are making the claims. Oklahoma settled litigation with Purdue last year.

The company and family have denied the allegations and pledged to help combat the opioid epidemic, including by providing addiction treatment drugs and overdose reversal medications under development.

The Sacklers' pharmaceutical efforts began with brothers Arthur, Mortimer and Raymond. Arthur's children were not actively involved in the business, but the sons, daughters and wives  of Mortimer and Raymond carried on the family business; this family tree outlines the Sackler descendants and their connection with the business

The middle Sackler brother Mortimer is pictured. After Arthur Sackler died in 1987, Mortimer and his younger brother Raymond bought his option of Purdue Pharma for $22.4 million

Dr Mortimer & Mrs Sackler pictured in 2004 

Dr. Raymond Sackler, shown here with his wife, Beverly

Dr. Raymond Sackler, shown here with his wife, Beverly

A representative for the families of Raymond and Mortimer Sackler told The New Yorker: 'Our hearts go out to those affected by drug abuse and addiction.

'The rise in opioid-related deaths is driven overwhelmingly by heroin and illicit fentanyl smuggled by drug traffickers into the U.S. from China and Mexico.'

They said documents will show 'the Sackler family acted ethically and responsibly at all times'. 

Purdue and the Sacklers have previously pointed to fentanyl and heroin as more significant culprits in the opioid crisis. 

States in their filings, though, pointed to National Institute on Drug Abuse research estimating that about 80% of heroin abusers previously took prescription opioids.     

Purdue is only worth a bit more than $2 billion if liquidated.       

Opioids are a class of drugs that include powerful prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin and illegal drugs that include heroin and illicitly made fentanyl.

WHO ARE THE SACKLERS? 

Purdue Pharma, which is run by some members of the wealthy Sackler family, has made tens of billions on opioid sales. Here is a breakdown of who the Sacklers are, including those who have and haven't been involved in Purdue Pharma: 

 ARTHUR SACKLER

Arthur, a doctor and psychiatrist, founded a research laboratory in 1938, but Arthur's real genius was in marketing and he leveraged it to sell a number of medications, including the anti-anxiety drug, Valium.

He and his younger brothers Mortimer and Raymond owned a small pharma company called Purdue Frederick that they purchased in 1952. That company produced betadine and earwax.

Arthur remained a relatively silent partner in the old Purdue and died in 1987 before it became the company we know it as today.

He never saw any of Purdue's OxyContin profits. 

He donated the funds to open a number of medical education programs, libraries and museums.

Arthur was inducted into the Medical Marketing Hall of Fame upon his death in 1987. 

After his death in 1987, his brothers bought Arthur's portion of the company.

One of his four children, daughter Elizabeth, has largely taken over his philanthropy work.

Arthur and his heirs have had no involvement in Purdue Pharma or with OxyContin.   

MORTIMER SACKLER

Mortimer was an American physician and psychiatrist.

He and his brothers, the older Arthur and the younger Raymond published prolific medical research before buying a number of pharmaceutical companies, including, in 1952, Purdue Frederick.

After Arthur's death Mortimer and Raymond bought out his descendants' share of Purdue Frederick, and in 1991 they created the company that would become a pain management giant we now know, Purdue Pharma.

Mortimer became a lavish arts patron, known for equally extravagant donations and parties, beginning in the 1970s.

He died in 2010.

 RAYMOND SACKLER 

Raymond was a doctor like his older brothers, and the three were partners in all things until each of their deaths.   

Together with Mortimer, Raymond found success with their opioid painkiller, OxyContin, which became the Purdue Pharma's signature drug. 

Raymond was milder and more private than his brother, Mortimer.

Raymond had two children, Richard and Jonathan, before his death last year. 

ILENE SACKLER

Mortimer's eldest daughter with his first wife.   

She was listed as a director of Purdue's sister company, UK-based Napp Pharamaceutical Holdings, as of December 2016. 

She lives in an apartment in an iconic Upper West Side which she owns.

Its total value is estimated to be more than $122million. 

KATHE SACKLER 

Kathe is one of the directors of Napp, a UK-based company which also sold OxyContin. 

She owns two suburban properties in Connecticut which are separated by another owned by someone else and she lives in an Upper East Side townhouse with her wife, Susan Shack Sackler.

The house was owned by both Raymond and Mortimer. Their children share it. 

Kathe and Ilene had a brother, Robert, is deceased. 

JONATHAN AND RICHARD SACKLER  

Raymond's two son by wife Beverly. 

Jonathan formerly lived with his wife in Greenwich, Connecticut, in a property next to his mother's. 

Richard's former family home is not far away in neighboring Stamford. 

They have a cancer research center named after them at Yale and have both held positions at Purdue.

 RICHARD SACKLER 

Richard Sackler followed in his father's footsteps, getting his medical degree at New York University School of Medicine. 

He came to Purdue after medical school, leading the research and development that ultimately produced the extended release form of OxyContin that would elevate the family's fortune to previously unfathomable. 

He became president of Purdue in 1991, pioneering marketing campaigns that enticed droves of medical professionals to buy Purdue's opioid.

Richard became co-chairman in 2003, by which point $1.6 billion in OxyContin had been sold.  

His marketing schemes sparked suspicion, and in 2015, Richard was deposed before his company paid out a $24 million settlement. 

The company appealed in 2017, but the case has not moved forward. 

ELIZABETH SACKLER

Arthur's daughter has publicly and persistently attempted to distance herself from branch of her family that has profited from OxyContin. 

Elizabeth is a licensed psychiatrist and well-known philanthropist. 

She is the founder of an eponymous Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. 

She has previously expressed disgrace for her uncles' business.

 Elizabeth has previously told DailyMail.com: 'I, nor my siblings, nor my children have ever owned or benefited from Purdue Pharma or OxyContin or oxycodone. 

'It's another branch of the family.'

 BEVERLY AND THERESA SACKLER

 Theresa, 69, owns a $45million Upper East Side apartment building but lives mostly in the UK on a 10-acre estate in the Berkshire countryside. 

She is known in the UK as Dame Theresa Sackler, a title she was awarded for her sustained philanthropy and support of the arts.  

Theresa is more visible than her sister-in-law.  

Beverly, 94, is Raymond's widow. She lives on a Greenwich, Connecticut waterfront estate which has an estimated land and property value of almost $50million. She also owns a 17-floor Fifth Avenue building in Manhattan. 

When her husband was still alive, they donated the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Institute for Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences at Yale. It now employs 50 people across 20 departments. 

MORTIMER DAVID ALFONS SACKLER

Mortimer the only son of founding brother Mortimer, Mortimer II's mother is Gertraud Wimmer, Mortimer's second wife. 

Mortimer David owns a luxury condo building in Boston and lives in New York City with his 42-year-old wife Jacqueline.

The couple are a regular fixture on the Manhattan social circuit. 

DAVID AND JOSS SACKLER

David is intensely private but his wife, Joss, is not. 

She runs the members-only women's social club, LBV. 

Among its events are group workouts at the model haven gym Dog Pound and talks such as 'how to have the money talk with your kids.' 

 


 

 


 

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