America’s most notorious manufacturer of prescription opioids, Purdue Pharma, has announced plans to remove control of the company from the billionaire Sackler family, according to The New York Times. Purdue Pharma submitted bankruptcy restructuring plans late Monday that would see it transformed into a new entity that will fund efforts to end the nationwide addiction epidemic that it helped create. The Times reports that the plan includes a pledge from the Sacklers to pay $4.275 billion from their personal wealth to help offset costs incurred by individuals, states, and municipalities as a result of the epidemic that has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths. However, according to NPR, two dozen state attorneys general immediately rejected Purdue’s proposed plan and demanded more money for victims. “What the Sacklers are offering is a way for the payments to be structured that makes it convenient for them,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.
