Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family that owns the company have proposed a settlement for thousands of lawsuits filed against the company for its aggressive sales of the addictive pain drug Oxycontin. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey says the state will not accept the deal.
“That proposal was self-serving,” Frey says. “It would have allowed for the continued manufacture and sale of that exact drug that we are saying led and contributed to the opioid crisis.”
Frey also says the Sackler family should be required to pay more in damages since it made billions of dollars from sales of the drug for over a decade. He is urging other states to join Maine in rejecting the offer and continue the suit. So far, several states have announced their opposition.
“ A majority of the states have not agreed at this point and I think they can do better,” says Frey.
Originally published Sept. 20, 2019 at 1:34 p.m. ET.
