Families Outraged Over OxyContin Settlement

A settlement with one drug maker in Oklahoma’s lawsuit against the nation’s leading manufacturers of opioid pain medications has been settled.

Purdue Pharma, the maker of prescription painkiller OxyContin, who is accused of helping fuel the opioid epidemic, will pay out $270 million.

Purdue is just one of 13 opioid manufacturers being sued by Oklahoma, alleging they fraudulently engaged in marketing campaigns that led to thousands of overdose addictions and deaths.

One woman who’s been organizing hundreds of mothers to attend the trial in May says she’s “devastated” that one settlement has already been reached.

Cheryl Juaire said today that a full airing of the facts is the only way to fully hold Purdue Pharma accountable. Her 23-year-old son died of an overdose in 2011.

Purdue Pharma has made billions of dollars selling OxyContin, but it’s now considering bankruptcy among its legal options, potentially upending hundreds of lawsuits, including Oklahoma’s.

The 12 remaining defendants still face trial in May.

Juaire says she and other mothers plan to stand outside the courthouse with photos of their dead children. She hopes cities other states that have filed similar lawsuits don’t settle with the company, saying such settlements are a “huge disservice to the tens of thousands of families here in the United States who buried a child.”

An attorney for Purdue did not return a call seeking comment.