美国国家公共电台 NPR Purdue Pharma Reaches Tentative Deal To Settle Thousands Of Opioid Lawsuits

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The owners of Purdue Pharma are just about ready to surrender it. The company that makes OxyContin reached a tentative deal that would settle thousands of lawsuits¹ stemming from the opioid crisis. How's the settlement work? Let's find out from North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann, who follows opioid litigation for NPR. Brian, good morning.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE²: Hi, Steve.

INSKEEP: What are the tentative terms?

MANN: So here's what it looks like. The Sacklers would give up control of Purdue Pharma. The company would go through a structured bankruptcy³.

INSKEEP: Oh, the Sacklers. That's the billionaire family that has controlled Purdue Pharma for a long time, right? Go on. Go on.

MANN: That's exactly right. So a new firm would be created. Any revenue from future sales of OxyContin would go to help communities struggling with the addiction⁴ crisis. Sacklers would also give up $3 billion in cash and contribute money from the sales of an overseas subsidiary.

Paul Hanly helped negotiate this deal on behalf of local governments around the U.S., and I asked him if this penalizes⁵ the Sackler family enough financially for their role pushing opioid sales.

PAUL HANLY: We certainly believe, based on representations made to us by their counsel, that these are numbers that represent a significant portion of what the Sacklers have available.

MANN: What's clear, though, here, Steve, is that even after this settlement, the Sacklers will remain one of the richest families in America. And there also doesn't appear to be any admission of wrongdoing.

INSKEEP: I guess that explains why New York state's attorney general, among others, are very unhappy with the settlement.

MANN: Yeah. We've seen a really fierce response from attorneys general around the country - Connecticut, Massachusetts and other states. The Sackler family is hugely controversial. A lot of evidence that they played a big role in pushing opioid sales over the years. And, remember; you know, 200,000 people have died. And now there is a very real prospect⁶ that members of the family will walk away fabulously⁷ wealthy because of OxyContin sales.

INSKEEP: Well, if some states, or even half the states, were to reject this deal, does the deal still go through? And is it a settlement?

MANN: Yeah, this is going to go to bankruptcy court, and there could be a whole lot more litigation and negotiation⁸ there if these states refuse to get on board. Billions of dollars are going to flow from this, and whenever there's that much money, there's going to be a big fight. There's no formula for dividing up the cash.

Meanwhile, one thing that's interesting here is that state attorneys general, even more of them now, are promising⁹ to continue suing the Sackler family directly, going after that personal wealth, even after this company, Purdue Pharma, ceases to exist.

INSKEEP: Well, I'm curious about that. Wouldn't a settlement effectively preclude¹⁰ other lawsuits? And if it didn't, wouldn't the Sacklers be refusing to sign off at all?

MANN: Well, that's going to be an interesting question. In fact, these attorneys general say that they think they can pursue the Sacklers and the money that they pulled out of this company over the years. A lot of the litigation focuses exactly on that question.

INSKEEP: What happens now with thousands of other lawsuits that focus on other pharmaceutical¹¹ companies and distributors and pharmacy¹² chains and everybody else?

MANN: Right. Negotiations¹³ going on right now with other big drug companies, name-brand companies like Johnson & Johnson. A federal trial is scheduled for next month in Ohio, so there's pressure to get more of these deals done.

One other big development, Steve, that happened yesterday is that the federal judge overseeing that federal case, Dan Polster, he approved a massive expansion of local governments included in his case. It now involves tens of thousands of cities and counties, other local jurisdictions¹⁴. They all have a stake now in how this litigation plays out. So the pharmaceutical industry's financial liability for this epidemic¹⁵ is still potentially massive.

INSKEEP: Brian, thanks for your close attention to all this.

MANN: Thank you, Steve.

INSKEEP: Brian Mann of North Country Public Radio, who covers opioid litigation for NPR.

1 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

4 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

5 penalizes   

对…予以惩罚( penalize的第三人称单数 )； 使处于不利地位

参考例句：

• The new law penalizes the poorest members of society. 新法规对社会中最贫困者不利。

6 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

7 fabulously   

难以置信地，惊人地

参考例句：

• The couple are said to be fabulously wealthy. 据说这对夫妇家财万贯。
• I should say this shirt matches your trousers fabulously. 我得说这衬衫同你的裤子非常相配。

8 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

9 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

10 preclude   

vt.阻止，排除，防止；妨碍

参考例句：

• We try to preclude any possibility of misunderstanding.我们努力排除任何误解的可能性。
• My present finances preclude the possibility of buying a car.按我目前的财务状况我是不可能买车的。

11 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

12 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

13 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

14 jurisdictions   

司法权( jurisdiction的名词复数 )； 裁判权； 管辖区域； 管辖范围

参考例句：

• Butler entreated him to remember the act abolishing the heritable jurisdictions. 巴特勒提醒他注意废除世袭审判权的国会法令。
• James I personally adjudicated between the two jurisdictions. 詹姆士一世亲自裁定双方纠纷。

15 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。