Corruption of the Sackler Family: America's Opiod Crisis

Fantastic read on the corruption of the Sackler Family and there distribution of OxyContin and OxyCodene to American consumers.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5413857/Sackler-family-billions-opioid-crisis.html

Purdue Pharmaceuticals, the company responsible for the creation of the powerful opioid OxyContin, was created and owned by the Sackler family 

The company allegedly advertised OxyContin as a safe drug that was unlikely to be habit-forming, but is now known to be incredibly addictive

The Sackler family made billions of dollars from the sale of OxyContin, and Purdue Pharmaceuticals is valued at at least $13 billion as of 2016

In 2007, an affiliated company was ordered to pay $600 million in one of the largest pharmaceutical settlements in history for 'felony misbranding'

OxyContin sales still soared, and the  US government considers the nation's dependence on the drug a public health emergency; more than 200 states, cities and counties have filed suit against pharma companies 

Purdue has now stated it will stop promoting opioid drugs to doctors and halve its sales force; company representatives will no longer visit doctors’ offices to advertise the addictive drugs

The brothers who founded the pharmaceutical empire - Arthur, Mortimer and Raymond - are all dead, but many of their children were serving on the board of Cambridge sister company Napp Pharmaceuticals in 2016

Members of the Sackler family are known for their philanthropy - particularly supporting the arts - have remained quiet about the widespread scourge of opioid addiction; they are fabulously wealthy 

Elizabeth Sackler,  daughter of eldest brother Arthur, told DailyMail.com that neither she, her siblings nor children benefited from Purdue or Oxycontin, saying: 'It's another branch of the family'