February 16, 2022
Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) led sevenSenators in calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate whethermembers of the Sackler family personally engaged in criminal conduct inconnection with Purdue Pharma’s admitted criminal wrongdoing in fueling thedevastating opioid epidemic. The Senators also urged DOJ to investigate whetherany of the Sacklers’ subsequent conduct warrants criminal investigation.
In 2020, DOJ resolved its civil and criminal investigations into PurduePharma for its role in the opioid epidemic. The company also pleaded guilty tothree felonies for its sale and marketing of OxyContin, and DOJ reached a civilsettlement with the Sackler family for their role in fueling this crisis. Aspart of this settlement, DOJ reserved the right to bring charges againstindividuals, including members of the Sackler family.
“This settlement and plea are little solace for the millions who losttheir lives and livelihoods at the hands of Purdue and the individuals at itshelm—the Sackler family,” the Senators said in part. “While theDepartment also reached a civil settlement with certain individual members ofthe Sackler family for their roles in causing this crisis, real justice in thiscase means holding individual lawbreakers criminally accountable.”
As owners and operators of Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family exacerbatedthe opioid epidemic’s staggering human and economic toll on hundreds ofthousands of Americans. When faced with declining sales in the 2000s, theSacklers employed aggressive marketing tactics to “turbocharge” OxyContinsales, eventually resulting in Purdue pleading guilty to federal criminalcharges in 2007 for misleading doctors and regulators. Nevertheless, Purduecontinued these aggressive tactics in the years that followed, leading to thecompany’s 2020 guilty plea. During this same time, the Attorney General of theState of New York has alleged members of the Sackler family tried to shieldtheir fortunes from investigation by transferring billions of dollars fromPurdue to themselves.
Citing these alleged fraudulent transfers, a history of corporatecriminal wrongdoing, and attempts to avoid responsibility for an epidemic thathas taken lives and ravaged communities across the nation, the senators calledon DOJ to consider possible criminal charges for members of the Sackler family.
“As you wellknow, the opioid epidemic continues to take a staggering human and economictoll. There can be no doubt that this epidemic was exacerbated by Purdue andthe decades of criminal conduct it engaged in while owned and operated by theSackler family. For decades, the Sacklers have put themselves and their profitsbefore people, and, under their leadership, Purdue committed crimes that helpedfuel the opioid epidemic. If members of the Sackler family have any criminalexposure as the individuals who directed and oversaw Purdue before, during, andafter Purdue engaged in the criminal conspiracies to which it pleaded guilty,the Department must also take steps to hold the Sacklers accountable beforeapplicable statutes of limitations have run,” the Senatorscontinued.
Senator Manchin was joined by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), EdwardJ. Markey (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren(D-MA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).
The fulltext of the letter is availablehere and below:
Dear AttorneyGeneral Garland:
In October 2020,the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had resolved its civil andcriminal investigations into Purdue Pharma for fueling the devastating opioidepidemic that has, for decades, taken lives and ravaged communities across thenation. The next month, Purdue pleaded guilty to three felonies related to itssale and marketing of OxyContin. This settlement and plea are little solace forthe millions who lost their lives and livelihoods at the hands of Purdue andthe individuals at its helm—the Sackler family.
While theDepartment also reached a civil settlement with certain individual members ofthe Sackler family for their roles in causing this crisis, real justice in thiscase means holding individual lawbreakers criminally accountable. DOJ left thatdoor open with respect to the Sacklers, as the Department specifically reservedthe right to bring charges against individuals when it settled with Purdue. Tothat end, we write to encourage the Department to review the information in itspossession and investigate whether members of the Sackler family engaged incriminal conduct in connection with Purdue’s admitted criminal wrongdoing,before any relevant statutes of limitations expire. We also write to urge DOJto investigate whether any of their subsequent conduct warrants criminalinvestigation as well.
As you wellknow, the opioid epidemic continues to take a staggering human and economictoll. There can be no doubt that this epidemic was exacerbated by Purdue andthe decades of criminal conduct it engaged in while owned and operated by theSackler family. According to the Department’s settlement agreement with theSacklers, between 1996 and 2018, “members of the Sackler family directed andoversaw Purdue’s development, manufacture, marketing, promotion, sales, anddistribution of opioids, including OxyContin and interactions with the Drug EnforcementAdministration and the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services, and the Department of Health and Human Services.”
It was, afterall, the Sacklers who—faced with declining sales in the mid-2000s—employedvarious business tactics for Purdue to “turbocharge” its OxyContin sales allwhile OxyContin was driving abuse and addiction and hundreds of thousands ofAmericans had overdosed on the drug. Even after Purdue pleaded guilty tofederal criminal charges in 2007 for having misled doctors and regulators aboutthe risks of OxyContin, these aggressive tactics continued. In the Department’srecent civil settlement, DOJ alleged that certain members of the Sackler family“knew or should have known” that the “aggressive marketing program” Purduelater developed had “thousands of prescribers . . . prescribing opioids thatwere not always for a medically accepted indication[,] were sometimes unsafe,ineffective, and medically unnecessary[,] and that were sometimes diverted foruses that lacked a legitimate medical purpose.”
While Purdue,under Sackler leadership, sold and marketed opioids in such a manner that itlater agreed to plead guilty, the Sacklers themselves sought to protect theirassets and shield their fortunes from investigations at the state and federallevels that could—and would—lead to settlements and judgments. To do so, theAttorney General for the State of New York alleged the Sackler family “used aweb of corporate entities to transfer funds from [Purdue] to themselves.” Thesetransfers were alleged to be fraudulent “because the [Sacklers] knew Purdue wasinsolvent,” but nonetheless continued to transfer “over $10 billion” fromPurdue to themselves. In one instance, according to the New YorkAttorney General, Mortimer D.A. Sackler—then serving on Purdue’s Board ofDirectors—alone “transferred millions of dollars from trust companies . . . tohimself” less than two years after Purdue first pleaded guilty. This purportedconduct warrants investigation, too, under federal fraudulent transfer laws,including 18 U.S.C. § 152(7).
That theDepartment has taken steps to hold Purdue criminally accountable for itsactions, but not the Sacklers, suggests dissimilar treatment for similar—oreven the same—unlawful conduct. For decades, the Sacklers have put themselvesand their profits before people, and, under their leadership, Purdue committedcrimes that helped fuel the opioid epidemic. If members of the Sackler familyhave any criminal exposure as the individuals who directed and oversaw Purduebefore, during, and after Purdue engaged in the criminal conspiracies to whichit pleaded guilty, the Department must also take steps to hold the Sacklersaccountable before applicable statutes of limitations have run.
Thank you foryour time and consideration.
