David Sackler Defends Family’s Role in Opioid Crisis and Pledges Help
- Family has ‘moral responsibility’ to fight the U.S. epidemic
- Purdue Pharma owners didn’t break law, Sackler testifies
David Sackler testifies via video to a House Oversight Committee hearing on Dec. 17, 2020.
Source: House Television/APMembers of the billionaire family that own Purdue Pharma LP have a “moral responsibility” to fight the opioid crisis but didn’t break the law in overseeing sales of the company’s addictive painkiller OxyContin, former board member David Sackler said during questioning in bankruptcy court.
The grandson of the late Purdue co-owner Raymond Sackler fielded questions from lawyers by video conference over the course of several hours on Tuesday. It’s the first time a member of the family has appeared before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain, who has overseen Purdue’s Chapter 11 proceedings since 2019 and is reviewing a company plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over its role in the opioid epidemic.