Volume 401, Issue 10392 || 10 June 2023
WORLD REPORT A US $6 billion settlement must help to expand treatment access, harm reduction programmes, and recovery services. Susan Jaffe reports.
Federal, state and local governments along with community organisations may soon receive an infusion of US$6 billion to fight the opioid epidemic, including at least $775 million for victims and their families, after a federal appeals court approved a bankruptcy settlement for Purdue Pharma and its founders, the multi-billionaire Sackler family. However, in a controversial move last month, the court also restored protections for the Sacklers from civil lawsuits, despite accusations that their illegal schemes to boost sales of the company’s strongly addictive pain killer, OxyContin (oxycodone), vastly increased their wealth. But without this shield, the agreement would have remained mired in court challenges. [Continued here.]