According to the 312-pagecomplaint filed in Massachusetts, “By their misconduct, theSacklers have hammered Massachusetts families in every waypossible.” (Photo: Shutterstock)

The state of Massachusetts has filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma that alleges extraordinaryefforts to saturate the country with prescriptions for its opioid painkillers.

Stat reports that newly public details from the suitallege that in 1996, when Oxycontin hit the market, Dr. RichardSackler told attendees at the drug launch party that the drug's appearance onthe public stage “will be followed by a blizzard of prescriptionsthat will bury the competition.”

Related: The opioid epidemic claims its first corporatevictim

Sackler, a member of the family that launched Purdue who was acompany executive at the time, also had an answer in 2001 whenthere were questions about addiction and overdoses resulting fromthe use of Oxycontin and other opioids: blame the victims.According to the report, Sackler sent an e-mail in which he said,“We have to hammer on the abusers in every way possible. They arethe culprits and the problem. They are reckless criminals.”

According to the state's 312-page complaint, “By their misconduct, theSacklers have hammered Massachusetts families in every waypossible.” It points out that since 2007, in Massachusetts alone,Purdue sold more than 70 million doses of opioids for more than$500 million. “And the stigma they used as a weapon made the crisisworse,” the suit adds.

Purdue also had arrangements with both Tufts University's HealthSciences Campus and Massachusetts General Hospital, providing $3million to Massachusetts General and proposing curriculum and anemployee to Tufts who was made an adjunct professor.

In addition, the suit alleges that Purdue “deceivedMassachusetts doctors and patients to get more and more people onits dangerous drugs;” it “misled them to use higher and moredangerous doses;” and “deceived them to stay on its drugs forlonger and more harmful periods of time” even as it “peddledfalsehoods to keep patients away from safer alternatives.”

Purdue, for its part, has pointed out that the medications wereFDA-approved and government-regulated, and that the state attorneygeneral has not included data on steps taken by Purdue to advanceappropriate, safe use of opioids.

In the report, Purdue is quoted saying, “To distract from theseomissions of fact and the other numerous deficiencies of itsclaims, the Attorney General has cherry-picked from among tens ofmillions of emails and other business documents produced by Purdue.The complaint is littered with biased and inaccuratecharacterizations of these documents and individual defendants,often highlighting potential courses of action that were ultimatelyrejected by the company.”

It also seeks to have documents it submitted in federal court ona confidential basis remain sealed in the state filing.

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