Purdue Pharma, accused of helping create the opioid epidemic, reportedly wanted to expand into the addiction treatment business. ProPublica’s article reportedly contains some of the redacted information that the company tried to keep out of public view.
A Massachusetts judge ruled that a full release be issued on Monday, allowing the public to view the redacted portions of the lawsuit.
The company, owned by the Sackler family, deceptively sold OxyContin, downplaying the risks and dangers associated with the drug. The blacked-out portions of the lawsuit reportedly show that the company tried to capitalize on the addiction that their drug was causing. Correspondence between executives show that the company wanted to open their own treatment centers to fight addiction caused by the drug the company sold.
Internal documents show that the company reported OxyContin sales were declining, but the team “touted” the fact that the marketplace for addiction treatment was expanding.
“Project Tango” was a secretive project, linked to Kathe Sackler, that was meant to help Purdue enter into the addiction treatment market. The redacted portion of the lawsuit also allegedly claims that Richard Sackler was upset that Google’s alert for OxyContin provided too much information on the dangers of the drug.
The Sackler family has tried to put the blame of addiction on everyone else, including doctors and their patients.
Purdue claims that the release of the redacted information is an attempt to put all of the blame for the opioid crisis on the company. The court order allows until midday Friday for the state to release all of the redacted information.
Purdue’s lawyers tried to argue that the release of the redacted information would interfere with a lawsuit in Ohio’s federal court. Hundreds of lawsuits in Ohio against the company have been bundled into one large lawsuit. Purdue argues that the release of information in Massachusetts doesn’t allow the federal court in Ohio to determine which documents they would release or deem confidential.
