The headline is eye-catching: “Washington to get $183 million from Purdue Pharma settlement, more than double original proposal.”
That is the result of dogged efforts from state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, providing an example of elected officials working for the benefit of the people they represent.
Purdue Pharma makes OxyContin, a widely abused prescription painkiller that has contributed to a national epidemic of opioid abuse. Several states, including Washington, sued the company for downplaying the addictive properties of the drug while pushing medical professionals to prescribe it.
As Ferguson explained: “Purdue ignored warning signs and their own studies while targeting high-prescribing doctors in Washington state. It’s time they are held accountable for the devastation this epidemic has caused.”
That was in 2018; the wheels of justice turn slowly, but they finally have resulted in an appropriate penalty for Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family.
Last year, a bankruptcy plan for the company would have netted Washington $70 million. Ferguson and nine other state attorneys general opposed that settlement, and a federal judge in New York agreed with their argument.
Under a new settlement, which must be approved by a bankruptcy court, the Sacklers will contribute an additional $1.2 billion from their personal fortune — to nearly $6 billion — and have agreed to apologize. As with the previous agreement, they will receive immunity from future civil lawsuits.
“We stood up to the Sacklers and forced them to relinquish more of their fortune to help undo the damage they caused,” Ferguson said last week.
Make no mistake, the Sacklers will retain enormous wealth. An audit that was part of the proceedings found they have withdrawn $11 billion from Purdue Pharma since 2008. But increased accountability is a victory for the people of Washington and was worth the fight for Ferguson’s office.
In 2020, nearly 1,200 Washington deaths were attributed to opioid overdoses. And for those who argue that users should be responsible for their choices, it is instructive to view how Purdue marketed OxyContin. The company denied the addictive properties of the medication and urged doctors to prescribe more to patients who complained. In an email, company founder Dr. Richard Sackler wrote: “We have to hammer on the abusers in every way possible. They are the culprits and the problem. They are reckless criminals.”
Court proceedings against Purdue and other pharmaceutical companies revealed that 81 million pain pills were shipped to a West Virginia county of 91,000 people from 2006 to 2014. The result of all this: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there have been more than 500,000 opioid deaths in the United States since companies began aggressively marketing painkillers in the late 1990s.
While personal responsibility is required to fight the scourge of the opioid epidemic, manufacturers also must be held responsible. Major corporations and the super wealthy long have manipulated the system to avoid accountability. By funneling profits to shareholders and executives, corporations too often believe they are buying immunity for their actions.
No amount of money can make up for the cost in lives, treatment, health care and law enforcement for Washington. But through an updated settlement with Purdue Pharma, our state has sent a message to other corporations that are tempted to abuse the public in a quest for profits.
