MY WAY OR NO WAY

Purdue Pharma Heir Threatens Nuclear Option: Tanking $4.5B Settlement

David Sackler said any settlement agreement would need to give his family legal immunity or they would leave negotiations.

A former board member of Purdue Pharma and the grandson of its founders said in court Tuesday that his family would nuke any potential settlement if they were not granted immunity from future prosecution. David Sackler said in court, “We need a release that is sufficient to get our goals accomplished, and if the release fails to do that, then we will not support it.” The judge in the case has said he harbors “some concerns about the breadth” of the liability releases currently on the table. Federal prosecutors and the Sacklers have spent the better part of two years negotiating a bankruptcy settlement in which the Sackler family would admit no wrongdoing but would pay $4.5 billion and give up any stake in Purdue (though not their international pharmaceutical companies). Thousands of individuals, tribes, states, and cities have filed lawsuits against Purdue. David Sackler said that his family would instead allow the legal battles to proceed.