Lawsuits Ramp up Pressure on Family That Owns Opioid Company

The legal pressure on the family behind the painkiller OxyContin intensified this week and is likely to grow.

The Sackler family came under scrutiny when a legal filing in Massachusetts detailed how family members and other Purdue Pharma executives sought to push prescriptions for the drug and downplay its addiction risks.

A lawyer who has sued the family on behalf of New York’s Suffolk County says he expects similar claims against family members to be added to hundreds of lawsuits seeking to hold the drug industry accountable for an opioid crisis.

Documents used in the claims could also be used in more than 1,000 suits against the drug industry that have been consolidated under a federal judge.

Purdue has blasted the accusations as an attempt to vilify the company.