“We were the first state to sue the Sacklers. And many other states have followed.”[1]

“I just want to be clear — this isn’t an act of fiction. When we put together a complaint, it is based on actual documents, emails, board memos, presentations, marketing materials and the like.”[2]

“To the extent they claim it’s taken out of context. We welcome them to produce all the documents that we continue to seek.”[2]

– Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey — 2019

Newly Released Documents Prove Falsehoods & Fabrications in Massachusetts Complaint, Which Was Copied by Other States

Paragraph 177

False Claim

In 1998, Dr. Richard Sackler instructed Purdue’s executives that OxyContin tablets provide more than merely “therapeutic” value and instead “enhance personal performance,” like Viagra.

Fact

This is false. The cited underlying 1998 email makes clear that Dr. Richard Sackler was not instructing executives about anything or commenting on how OxyContin could be used. In fact, Dr. Sackler was challenging executives to think about new products that would enhance the quality of life, such as a memory enhancing drug.

See supporting document 8.

Other Lawsuits

Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont

Paragraph 182

False Claim

The next month, a federal prosecutor reported 59 deaths from OxyContin in a single state. The Sacklers knew that the reports underestimated the destruction. Dr. Richard Sackler wrote to Purdue executives: “This is not too bad. It could have been far worse.”

Fact

This is false. Dr. Richard Sackler’s email was not responding to a report of deaths but to the tone of a very long, surprisingly balanced 2001 New York Times article titled “Cancer Painkillers are Being Abused.” The article said nothing about deaths until midway through the article, which was directly followed by a quote from a Purdue physician disputing the relevant number—thus, making the article balanced. 

See supporting slides 139-140.

Other Lawsuits

California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont

Paragraph 183

False Claim

That same month, Dr. Richard Sackler wrote down his solution to the overwhelming evidence of overdose and death: blame and stigmatize people who become addicted to opioids. Sackler wrote in a confidential email: “we have to hammer on the abusers in every way possible. They are the culprits and the problem. They are reckless criminals.”

Fact

This is misleading. The allegation that Dr. Richard Sackler’s informal email exchanges represented either direction to Purdue or actions that Purdue took is completely false. When exchanging emails with friends and colleagues about news coverage, Dr. Sackler expressed his deep concern that the reported abuse and diversion of OxyContin might unfairly stigmatize this important FDA-approved medication at a time when the public health concern was inadequate treatment of pain. Dr. Sackler has since learned a lot more about addiction, and has apologized for his insensitive language from decades past that he used to express his concerns.

See supporting document 53.

Paragraph 185

False Claim

When Time magazine published an article about OxyContin deaths in New England, Purdue employees told Richard Sackler they were concerned. Richard responded with a message to his staff. He wrote that Time’s coverage of people who lost their lives to OxyContin was not “balanced,” and the deaths were the fault of “the drug addicts,” instead of Purdue. “We intend to stay the course and speak out for people in pain – who far outnumber the drug addicts abusing our product.”

Fact

This is false. Dr. Richard Sackler’s message made no reference to death, as shown in the cited documents, either in words or in substance.

See supporting slides 141-142.

Other Lawsuits

Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont

Paragraph 198

False Claim

When Dr. Richard Sackler wrote to managers, “This is bad,” to criticize the sales of Purdue’s Butrans opioid, the managers in turn drafted a warning for employees: “Just today, Dr. Richard sent another email, ‘This is bad,’ referring to current Butrans trends. I am quite sure that Dr. Richard would not be sympathetic to the plight of the Boston District.” The manager then threatened to fire every sales rep in the Boston district: “I am much closer to dismissing the entire district than agreeing that they deserve a pass for poor market conditions.”

Fact

This is false. The cited 2012 email was about sales data, not marketing efforts, and it related to Butrans, which has never been associated with the opioid epidemic.

See supporting slide 84

Paragraph 215

False Claim

Every time the Sacklers voted to spend tens of millions of dollars on sales reps, they knew and intended that they were sending reps to promote opioids in Massachusetts.

Fact

This is false. The emails cited in the complaint show approval regarding compensation for employees other than sales reps.

See supporting slides 23-26.

Other Lawsuits

Arizona (state action), Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Wisconsin

Paragraph 219

False Claim

The Sacklers wanted more details on tactics for pushing sales. Richard Sackler wrote to Russell Gasdia, Vice President of Sales and Marketing (hereinafter “Sales VP”), demanding information about Purdue’s opioid savings cards.

Fact

This is misleading. The cited documents merely show Dr. Richard Sackler asking for clarification following a typo in an email sent to him.

See supporting slides 106-107.

Other Lawsuits

California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Delaware, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont

Paragraph 220

False Claim

Meanwhile, when staff proposed a plan to get pharmacies to increase their inventory of OxyContin from 2 bottles to 3 bottles, Dr. Richard Sackler demanded to know why they couldn’t get up to 4 bottles or more.

Fact

This is misleading. The cited 2008 email was an irrelevant question about pharmacy stocking calculations.

See supporting slides 130-131.

Other Lawsuits

Delaware, Idaho, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont

Paragraph 226

False Claim

The Sacklers also knew and intended that the sales reps would push higher doses of Purdue’s opioids. That same month, Dr. Richard Sackler directed Purdue management to “measure our performance by Rx’s by strength, giving higher measures to higher strengths.”

Fact

This is misleading. The cited 2008 email is an irrelevant suggestion about a sales performance metric, not anything that supports this false allegation.

See supporting slides 124-125.

Paragraph 226

False Claim

As far back as the 1990s, Jonathan and Kathe Sackler knew that patients frequently suffer harm when “high doses of an opioid are used for long periods of time.”

Fact

This is misleading. The cited 1997 memo discussed the need for alternate opioid analgesics

See supporting slides 148-149.

Paragraph 228

False Claim

The Sacklers learned that another company was planning clinical research to test whether crush-proof opioids are safer for patients. Mortimer Sackler suggested that Purdue conduct similar studies to find out whether reformulated OxyContin was really safer before selling it to millions of patients… Richard didn’t want a paper trail, so he instructed Mortimer to call him, and CEO John Stewart met with his staff to plan how to phrase a carefully worded reply.

Fact

This is false. The document cited in the complaint directly refutes this allegation. Dr. Richard Sackler’s email to Mortimer included a simple request for a phone call to discuss a study.

See supporting slides 93-94.

Other Lawsuits

Delaware, Minnesota, Vermont

Paragraph 229

False Claim

Richard chimed in at 8:30 p.m. to instruct the staff to find answers “before tomorrow.” Staff emailed among themselves about how the Sacklers’ demands were unrealistic and harmful and then decided it was safer to discuss the problem by phone.

Fact

This is false. The cited document shows Dr. Richard Sackler’s email was a polite request for information, not a demand to find answers “before tomorrow.”

See supporting slides 126-127.

Other Lawsuits

California, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont

Paragraph 232

False Claim

Richard Sackler did not back off. Instead, he pushed staff to sell more of the highest doses of opioids and get more pills in each prescription.

Fact

This is false. The cited 2008 email was about higher sales generally, not about higher doses.

See supporting slides 90-91.

Other Lawsuits

Arizona (state action), Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont

Paragraph 234

False Claim

At the same time, Jonathan, Kathe, and Mortimer Sackler were also pushing staff about sales.

Fact

This is false. The email cited shows Dr. Kathe Sackler asking for clarification, not pushing staff about sales. (Jonathan is merely copied on the emails.)

See supporting slides 150-151.

Other Lawsuits

California, Colorado, Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont

Paragraph 237

False Claim

On April 18, Richard Sackler sent Kathe, Ilene, David, Jonathan, and Mortimer Sackler a secret memo about how to keep money flowing to their family. Richard wrote that Purdue’s business posed a “dangerous concentration of risk.”

Fact

This is false. The “risk” being discussed was that patent exclusivity for OxyContin was expiring in 2013 as of that time and the family’s concentration of wealth value in the company, not any risk due to opioid addiction.

See supporting slides 110-111.

Other Lawsuits

Arizona (state action), Arizona (Bill of Complaint), Delaware, Idaho, Maryland, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

Paragraph 240

False Claim

On April 18, the Sacklers voted to increase the 2008 budget for Sales and Promotion to $155,802,000. Then, Richard Sackler sent Sales VP Russell Gasdia a series of questions about Purdue’s efforts to get patients to take higher doses and stay on opioids for longer times.

Fact

This is false. The email contained nothing about getting patients on higher doses or for longer times. The question was about insurance.

See supporting slides 95-96.

Other Lawsuits

Colorado, Delaware, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

Paragraph 260

False Claim

Richard Sackler told staff that he was not satisfied with OxyContin sales and demanded a plan to “boost” them. He asked for the topic to be added to the agenda for the Board.

Fact

This is false. The emails cited in the complaint contained no demands to “boost” sales.

See supporting slides 97-99.

Other Lawsuits

North Carolina, New Jersey, Delaware, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

Paragraph 261

False Claim

In August, Richard Sackler convened a meeting of Board members and staff about “all the efforts Sales and Marketing is doing and planning to do to reverse the decline in OxyContin tablets market.” He emphasized that $200,000,000 in profit was at stake.

Fact

This is misleading. The cited email is an invitation to informational board meetings. Directors are expected and required to keep informed about important business issues.

See supporting slides 118-119.

Other Lawsuits

Delaware, Iowa, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont

Paragraph 266

False Claim

Richard Sackler directed staff to send him weekly reports on OxyContin sales. No one in the company received reports that often, so staff were not sure how to reply.

Fact

This is misleading. The document clearly shows Dr. Richard Sackler’s request to be added to the weekly circulation of a report he thought already existed.

See supporting slides 120-121.

Other Lawsuits

North Carolina, New Jersey, Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

Paragraph 293

False Claim

In March, Richard Sackler instructed sales staff to send him monthly reports on sales of OxyContin and its competitors. They complied within ten minutes.

Fact

This is misleading. The cited document shows a request for monthly information Dr. Richard Sackler had not seen in a year.

See supporting slides 128-129

Other Lawsuits

Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont

Paragraph 335

False Claim

In January 2011, staff reported to the Sacklers that a key initiative in Q4 2010 had been the expansion of the sales force. Staff told the Sacklers that Purdue employed 590 sales reps and, during Q42010, they visited prescribers 12,715 times.

Fact

This is misleading. The cited document shows the “expansion” of the sales force was for an expanded product line with the launch of new FDA-approved Butrans, not more sales reps for OxyContin as this falsely suggests.

See supporting slides 33-34.

Other Lawsuits

Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont

Paragraph 342

False Claim

The second tactic staff reported to Richard, Jonathan, Kathe, Mortimer, and Theresa Sackler in the May 25, 2011 email was “positioning of Butrans for specific patient types.” In Massachusetts, promotion for “specific patient types” meant pushing opioids for elderly patients with arthritis…”

Fact

This is false. The document was a high level report about Butrans patch sales with no mention of “pushing opioids” on elderly patients with arthritis.

See supporting slides 72-73.

Other Lawsuits

Arizona (state action), Arizona (Bill of Complaint), Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Vermont

Paragraph 363

False Claim

In September, Richard Sackler directed staff to study a savings card program for a widely-used cholesterol medication (not an addictive narcotic) to learn how Purdue could use it for opioids.

Fact

This is misleading. The cited email forwards an article about lipitor savings card, asking if staff had seen this previously. Dr. Richard Sackler was not directing staff to “study” the approach.

See supporting slides 104-105.

Other Lawsuits

Delaware, D.C., Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

Paragraph 376

False Claim

Staff told Richard that the increase in prescriptions was caused by tactics that Purdue taught sales reps: pushing opioids for elderly patients with arthritis (“proper patient selection”) and encouraging doctors to use higher doses of opioids (“quick titration”).

Fact

This is false. The cited email shows Purdue was focused on “proper patient selection” and “quick titration as appropriate.” The email does does not mention the elderly or arthritis.

See supporting slides 76-77.

Other Lawsuits

Arizona (state action), Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin

Paragraph 429

False Claim

Meanwhile, staff contacted Richard Sackler because they were concerned that the company’s “internal documents” could cause problems if investigations of the opioid crisis expanded. Early the next year, staff told Jonathan Sackler about the same concern. Jonathan studied collections of news reports and asked staff to assure him that journalists covering the opioid epidemic were not focused on the Sacklers.

Fact

This is misleading. The cited email shows the review of press was about IR oxycodone, not ER opioids like OxyContin, and has nothing to do with the Sackler family.

See supporting slides 158-159.

Other Lawsuits

Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont

Paragraph 468

False Claim

Kathe and Mortimer Sackler wanted staff to break out productivity data by indication versus prescriber specialty for each drug. Richard Sackler sought details on how staff was calculating 2016 mg/tablet trends. Jonathan Sackler sought a follow-up briefing on how public health efforts to prevent opioid addiction would affect OxyContin sales.

Fact

This is false. The Sacklers were not concerned with “how efforts to prevent opioid addiction would impact sales”. The cited document shows a 2015 request for a briefing on market impact of CDC guidelines, which Purdue distributed and urged prescribers to follow the CDC guidelines.

See supporting slides 160-161.

Other Lawsuits

California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Vermont