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BURLINGTON — Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan announced Tuesday that the state was suing eight members of the Sackler family, founders of the pharmaceutical giant Purdue Pharma.

Donovan filed the suit Tuesday in Chittenden County Superior Court, alleging that the Sacklers contributed to the opioid crisis in Vermont by deceptively marketing the opioid painkiller OxyContin for years.

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The state had already sued Purdue Pharma as a corporation in September 2018 for the same reason. Forty-three other states have filed similar lawsuits.

Donovan said during a Tuesday press conference at the Howard Center in Burlington that he decided to sue the individuals involved to ensure they are held accountable.

“They made billions of dollars off the backs of patients who became addicted to OxyContin,” he said. “The entire Sackler family has been unjustly enriched by their misdeeds.”

The lawsuit alleges that the individuals violated Vermont’s Consumer Protection Act, were unjustly enriched, and created a public nuisance.

The lawsuit states that the family members named in the suit oversaw the company’s marketing campaign that minimized health risks of opioids and promoted dangerous higher-dose products.

The family members named in the suit were officers or directors in the company from 1996 to 2018 and are Richard Sackler, Beverly Sackler, David Sackler, Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, Jonathan Sackler, Kathe Sackler, Mortimer Sackler and Theresa Sackler.

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“These eight members of the Sackler family … oversaw the deceptive marketing campaign that lead to an explosion of opiate prescribing and the opiate crisis in Vermont,” Donovan said.

Purdue Pharma faces roughly 2,000 lawsuits making similar claims. The company is considering filing for bankruptcy, which would “halt the lawsuits and allow Purdue to negotiate legal claims with plaintiffs under the supervision of a U.S. bankruptcy judge,” Reuters reported.

Donovan said that the suit against the individual family members will allow the state to continue litigation against involved individuals if the corporation filed for bankruptcy.

“By suing the Sacklers separately, we’ll be able to keep pressure on the most culpable family members, even if the filing in bankruptcy court should come as a corporation,” he said.

Jill Abrams, an assistant attorney general, said the suit against the individual family members would allow the state to “reach into the pocket of the individual wrongdoer.”

“If one of those individuals say, made a billion dollars in a given year, we would have access to that billion dollars individually, separate and apart from what the company as a separate corporate legal entity would contribute,” she said.

Abrams said that the Attorney General’s Office wanted to focus their investigation on the company at first and get that lawsuit filed before continuing to investigate the individuals, which led to the more recent suit.

Donovan said his office was in discussion with Purdue Pharma about a possible settlement.

Reuters reported that the Sackler family is split about how to handle the avalanche of litigation the company and family are facing. While some family members think the company should file for bankruptcy, others believe they should try to settle the lawsuits.

In March, Purdue Pharma reached a $270 million settlement with the state of Oklahoma in a similar lawsuit.

Purdue Pharma and Sacklers have denied allegations they contributed to the opioid crisis, Reuters reported, stating that heroin and fentanyl are more responsible than painkillers, and that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved labels warning about opioid risks.

In March, Judge Helen Toor ruled that the first lawsuit against Purdue Pharma could move forward after the company requested it be dismissed. Abrams said the case is in discovery.

A trial date has been set for 2021 if the case is not settled before then.

Donovan also sued two pharmaceutical distributors — Cardinal Health and McKesson Corp. — in March, alleging the companies failed to monitor and control the sale of opioids in the state.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced legislation Tuesday which would increase penalties for drug companies for illegal practices, Sanders staffer Kathryn Van Haste said at Tuesday’s press conference. Sanders introduced similar legislation last year.

Abrams said the state was keeping its options open for possible future lawsuits.

If the state recovers money as a result of the suit or a settlement, Donovan said that funding should go to community organizations working on the issue, such as the Howard Center.

“I believe funds need to be directed to folks who are out in the community helping people every single day, saving people’s lives, getting people healthy, getting people back on the road to recovery,” he said.

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