Opioid crisis in the United States: six billion dollars to stop lawsuits
OxyContin and other opiates for pain have been over-prescribed by the American medical community for years, leading to growing addiction.
REUTERS/George Frey
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In the United States, the Sackler family is ready to pay six billion dollars to put an end to their legal problems.
Owner of Purdue Pharma laboratories, she is accused of having contributed to the opiate crisis in the country.
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With our correspondent in New York,
Loubna Anaki
So far, a large majority of plaintiffs approve of this new offer, according to the judge handling the case.
An offer that increases the previous proposal of the Sackler family by a billion dollars.
Owner of the pharmaceutical laboratories Purdue Pharma, the members of this millionaire family face thousands of complaints filed, among others, by eight American states and the capital Washington.
These plaintiffs want
the Sacklers' responsibility for the
opiate-related health crisis to be officially recognized.
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The Sackler family therefore says it is ready to pay up to six billion dollars.
Damages to the families of victims, survivors, but also funds for the fight against opioid addiction.
This new proposal has the same condition as the previous one, if the agreement is signed, it would protect the members of
the Sackler family
from any future civil lawsuits.
An element that had caused controversy the last time.
You should know that the opiate crisis - especially highly addictive painkillers - has killed more than 500,000 people in the United States in twenty years.
And it continues to claim victims.
In 2020, more than 93,000 people died from drug overdoses.
A threshold never reached before.
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