Deal with OxyContin maker leaves families angry, conflicted

A landmark settlement in the nation’s opioid epidemic is forcing the owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to give up the company and pay out $4.5 billion

Among the families who lost children and other loved ones in the nation's opioid crisis, many had held out hope of someday facing OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and its owners in a courtroom. That prospect all but vanished Wednesday after a bankruptcy judge conditionally approved a settlement worth an estimated $10 billion. It was a deal that left many of those families feeling they didn't get what they really wanted. There was no apology from members of the Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma, they weren’t forced to give up all of their vast fortune, and there was no chance to confront them face-to-face about the lives lost to opioids. Instead, the individual victims, thousands of state and local governments and other entities that sued Purdue Pharma agreed to a deal in which the Sacklers will pay $4.5 billion and give up ownership of the company, which will be reorganized.