Audit: Sackler family took $10B from Purdue Pharma amid opioid suits

Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The Sackler family, owners of the pharmaceutical giant that manufactures OxyContin, transferred billions in company money to themselves over a 10-year period as lawsuits linked to the drug sprang up, new documents in U.S. bankruptcy court show.

A company-commissioned audit of Purdue Pharma, filed Monday as part of the drug company's bankruptcy case in New York, revealed the Sacklers withdrew more than $10 billion in cash from the company between 2008 and 2018 as backlash intensified against OxyContin and its role in the U.S. opioid epidemic.

Purdue Pharma filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September as part of a deal valued at $10 billion that included $3 billion from the Sackler family to settle more than 2,000 opioid lawsuits.

Plaintiffs in the those suits, however, have accused the family of moving billions of dollars to offshore accounts in an effort to shield themselves from financial liability. The figures in the newly filed audit are expected to renew demands from opioid victims for more than $3 billion in compensation from the Sacklers.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said the audit highlights the need for more information about the Sackler family's financial activities.

"We are committed to holding the Sacklers responsible for the role they played in fueling the opioid crisis and will not stop fighting until we have achieved justice for victims," she said. "We need full transparency into their total assets and must know whether they sheltered them in an effort to protect against creditors and victims."

Purdue said it provided the audit information for "extreme transparency" and so the states involved in litigation and the communities they represent will support the bankruptcy "settlement structure."