TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey is suing eight members of the family that founded opioid drug maker Purdue Pharma over the lethal toll of the medications.
Attorney General Gurbir Grewal (gur-BEHR’ GRAY’-wahl) announced the suit Thursday. He says the Sackler family wasn’t satisfied with “merely raking in” millions of dollars and instead wanted billions.
Sackler family spokeswoman Nikki Ritchie says the family denies the allegations and called the suit “baseless.”
New Jersey joins at least 11 states in taking legal action against one or more family members over the toll of opioids. Several states have
announced similar allegations against the Sackler family
in the past month.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found opioids, including prescription painkillers and related drugs such as heroin, were involved in nearly 48,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2017, exceeding the number of people killed in auto accidents annually.
