Richard Sackler: OxyContin, Depositions, and the $7.4B Settlement

Richard Sackler is a physician and former pharmaceutical executive who served as president and co-chairman of Purdue Pharma, the family-owned company that developed and marketed OxyContin. He was the Sackler family member most directly involved in the drug’s launch and sales strategy, and in May 2026 a $7.4 billion national settlement took effect that permanently bars the Sacklers from the opioid business. No member of the family, including Richard Sackler, has ever been criminally charged.¹

Who He Is and How He Rose at Purdue

Richard Sackler was born into a pharmaceutical family. His father Raymond, together with uncles Arthur and Mortimer, bought a small drug company called Purdue Frederick in 1952.² After Arthur died in 1987, his heirs sold their one-third stake to Raymond and Mortimer for about $22 million, concentrating ownership in the two younger brothers and their descendants.³ The company was renamed Purdue Pharma in 1991.

Richard graduated from New York University School of Medicine in 1971 and trained in internal medicine at Hartford Hospital.⁴¹

His Role in Marketing OxyContin

Internal documents unsealed in later litigation describe Richard Sackler as the force behind OxyContin’s commercial strategy. A confidential 1994 Purdue memo partly addressed to him laid out a plan to expand the drug’s use beyond cancer patients and into the far larger chronic non-cancer pain market, which generated roughly 68.7 million prescriptions a year. In a September 1996 email on promotional and patent strategy, Sackler wrote that he wanted Purdue to be “feared as a tiger with claws, teeth and balls.”⁵

Early in 1997, after pharmacy benefit managers raised addiction concerns, he directed executives to build a campaign around “the untreated patient in severe pain” and to argue that controlled-release opioids were less prone to abuse than immediate-release versions.⁵⁶⁷

The Massachusetts attorney general’s lawsuit alleged he viewed the launch as a chance to create a “blizzard of prescriptions that will bury the competition.” His style was described as “particularly domineering.” In 2011, after Sackler shadowed sales representatives in the field, Purdue’s own vice president of sales flagged his direct contact with the sales force as a “compliance risk” and asked the CEO to intervene.⁸

The Massachusetts complaint also alleged that after Purdue’s 2007 conviction, Sackler suggested the family either sell the company or “milk” its profits, and that he dismissed legally required drug warnings by writing that they implied “a danger of untoward reactions and hazards that simply aren’t there.”⁸⁹ Purdue called the complaint an attempt to “vilify” the company based on cherry-picked documents.

His Own Words on Addiction

As overdose reports mounted, Sackler’s internal messaging turned toward blaming users. In a February 2001 email he wrote: “We have to hammer on the abusers in every way possible. They are the culprits and the problem. They are reckless criminals.”⁸ In a separate 2001 exchange he told an acquaintance: “Abusers aren’t victims; they are victimizers.”¹⁰ He also worried about his public image, writing that if a television crew confronted him, “calling drug addicts ‘scum of the earth’ will guarantee that I become the poster child for liberals.”¹¹

Evidence cited in a PBS report on the Massachusetts case has him telling staff that overdose deaths should be spun as a user problem: “the way we’re going to spin this is that it’s about drug addicts these people are criminals. This is not our problem.” When sales plateaued, reporting based on internal documents described Sackler as “obsessed” with maintaining volume and pushed for higher doses prescribed over longer periods.¹²

In a March 2019 deposition, Sackler called the 2001 emails “emotional” and said his views had changed. His attorney said the messages were written in response to news reports of pharmacy robberies and reflected his concern about stigmatizing an FDA-approved medication.¹⁰

What He Said Under Oath

In August 2015, Sackler gave an eight-hour deposition in a lawsuit filed by the state of Kentucky. Purdue fought for years to keep the video sealed, appealing unsuccessfully to the Kentucky Supreme Court.¹³ Once released, the record showed him questioned about the OxyContin launch, how the sales force was paid, and his decision not to correct doctors’ belief that the drug was weaker than morphine. He disputed findings tied to Purdue’s 2007 guilty plea and admitted he had never read the full statement of facts from that case.⁷

He testified again in August 2021 by video during Purdue’s federal bankruptcy proceedings. The New York Times described his testimony as “evasive and defiant,” full of faint recollections and deflections to his lawyers. Asked whether he bore responsibility for the opioid crisis, he said no. Asked whether the Sackler family did, he said no. Asked whether Purdue Pharma did, he said no.¹⁴ Asked whether he had ever tried to find out how many people had died from OxyContin, he said the data was not available to his knowledge.¹⁵

Why He Was Never Criminally Charged

Purdue has pleaded guilty twice in federal court. Richard Sackler has not.

In 2007, Purdue affiliate Purdue Frederick pleaded guilty to felony misbranding of OxyContin, admitting it had falsely promoted the drug by understating its addiction risk, and paid roughly $600 million in penalties.¹⁶ Three non-Sackler executives, president Michael Friedman, general counsel Howard Udell, and former medical director Paul Goldenheim, individually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor misbranding, paid a combined $34.5 million in fines, and received probation.¹⁷ All three were later excluded from federal health care programs for 15 years. Richard Sackler, who was Purdue’s president during part of the period at issue, was not charged.

In November 2020, Purdue Pharma itself pleaded guilty to three federal felonies: conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate drug safety laws, and two counts of conspiracy to violate the federal anti-kickback statute. The company admitted marketing opioids to more than 100 health care providers it had reason to believe were diverting drugs, lying to the DEA about anti-diversion efforts, and paying kickbacks to doctors. Penalties totaled more than $8 billion, most of it treated as a claim in Purdue’s bankruptcy. The Sackler family agreed to pay $225 million to resolve civil False Claims Act liability. The Justice Department stated that the resolution did “not include the criminal release of any individuals, including members of the Sackler family,” yet no family member was charged.¹⁸

The Money the Family Took Out of Purdue

In December 2020, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing on the role of Purdue and the Sacklers in the opioid epidemic. David and Kathe Sackler testified by video. Richard Sackler did not appear. Chair Carolyn Maloney cited a 2008 memo in which Richard Sackler proposed the company “distribute more free cash-flow to the Sackler family.”¹⁹

The committee presented evidence that the family withdrew more than $10 billion from Purdue between 2008 and 2020, while the company generated more than $35 billion in OxyContin revenue over its lifetime.¹⁹ The Department of Justice separately alleged that between roughly 2008 and 2018, at the request of Richard Sackler and other named family members, Purdue transferred assets into “Sackler family holding companies and trusts” in a manner the government said was intended to hinder future creditors.²⁰

Reporting based on the Paradise Papers and leaked Appleby law firm documents found that the Sacklers controlled at least 30 island-based entities in Bermuda, the Channel Islands, and other jurisdictions. A December 2010 board-approved withdrawal of $261.3 million from Purdue passed through three tiers of holding companies before splitting between Beacon Co., based in the Channel Islands, and Rosebay Medical Co., both identified as Purdue’s “ultimate parents” and controlled by Sackler trusts. Forbes estimated the family’s combined fortune at $13 billion in 2016, making the Sacklers the 19th-richest family in America.²¹

The $7.4 Billion Settlement

Purdue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2019 to resolve roughly 2,600 lawsuits. An early reorganization plan would have had the Sacklers contribute up to $6 billion in exchange for a sweeping release from opioid-related civil liability, including from victims who never consented. The U.S. Trustee challenged the plan, and the dispute reached the Supreme Court as Harrington v. Purdue Pharma.

On June 27, 2024, in a 5-to-4 decision written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court struck down the nonconsensual liability shield. The majority held that the Bankruptcy Code does not authorize a court to discharge claims against people who have not themselves filed for bankruptcy and have not placed their assets on the table for creditors.²²²³ Gorsuch noted that fewer than 20% of eligible creditors had voted on the original plan, and thousands of opioid victims had voted against it.²⁴ He suggested the ruling could prompt the Sacklers to negotiate consensual releases “on terms more favorable to opioid victims.”

In January 2025, all 55 eligible state and territorial attorneys general announced a settlement in principle worth $7.4 billion.²⁵ The bankruptcy court confirmed the revised plan on November 18, 2025, and it took effect on May 1, 2026.²⁶ Unlike the rejected plan, the new deal is built on consensual releases tied to the payments the Sacklers are making, not a blanket judicial discharge.²⁷

The payment schedule is front-loaded:

May 2026: more than $1.5 billion from the Sacklers and roughly $900 million from Purdue.
May 2027: approximately $500 million.
May 2028: approximately $500 million.
May 2029: approximately $400 million.

Remaining funds are to be distributed over 15 years and directed toward addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery. The settlement permanently bars the Sackler family from selling opioids in the United States, ends their control of Purdue, and requires the public release of more than 30 million internal documents, which are being housed at the University of California, San Francisco.²⁸²⁹

Where He Stands Now

No member of the Sackler family has been criminally charged in connection with the opioid crisis. Under the 2026 settlement, family members paying into the fund are shielded from civil opioid lawsuits by those who agreed to the settlement’s terms.¹ The family is not required to file personal bankruptcy. Richard Sackler, who left Purdue’s board in 2019, is understood to live in Boca Raton, Florida, in a home purchased through an LLC in 2021 for $1.7 million. Over the past decade he has sold several properties, including a Texas estate for more than $3 million and a different Boca Raton property for $4.9 million.³⁰

The more than 30 million internal Purdue and Sackler documents required by the settlement are being added to the Opioid Industry Documents Archive at UCSF, a free digital repository modeled on the university’s tobacco industry archive.³¹ The archive includes emails, sales reports, DEA briefings, and executive depositions, and it is open to researchers, journalists, and the public.

1
The Guardian. Purdue Pharma Settlement Payments Opioids
2
Britannica. Sackler Family
3
The Guardian. Meet the Sacklers: The Family Feuding Over Blame for the Opioid Crisis
4
STAT News. The Man at the Center of the Secret OxyContin Files
5
STAT News. OxyContin History Told Through Purdue Pharma Documents
6
STAT News. Purdue Pharma Richard Sackler OxyContin Sealed Deposition
7
ProPublica. Watch Richard Sackler Deny His Family’s Role in the Opioid Crisis
8
STAT News. Massachusetts Purdue Lawsuit New Details
9
NPR. Lawsuit Details How the Sackler Family Allegedly Built an OxyContin Fortune
10
CNN. Sackler Purdue Opioid Emails
11
CT Mirror. In Newly Released Emails, Former Purdue President Takes Aim at Opioid Addicts
12
PBS NewsHour. Behind Purdue Pharma’s Marketing of OxyContin
13
ProPublica. The Full Video of Richard Sackler’s Testimony About Purdue Pharma and the Opioid Crisis
14
The New York Times. Richard Sackler Purdue Testimony
15
CNN. Richard Sackler Testifies Opioid Bankruptcy
16
HHS Office of Inspector General. Administrative Law Judge Upholds HHS-OIG Exclusions in OxyContin Case
17
The Guardian. Purdue Pharma OxyContin Justice Department Memo
18
U.S. Department of Justice. Opioid Manufacturer Purdue Pharma Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Kickback Conspiracies
19
U.S. Congress. The Role of Purdue Pharma and the Sackler Family in the Opioid Epidemic
20
U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Department Announces Global Resolution of Criminal and Civil Investigations With Opioid Manufacturer Purdue Pharma
21
CBS News. Purdue Pharma Sackler Family Wealth: Where Did the Sacklers Shift Cash From Opioid Maker
22
The New York Times. Supreme Court Opioid Settlement
23
SCOTUSblog. Supreme Court Blocks OxyContin Bankruptcy Plan
24
Supreme Court of the United States. Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P.
25
New York Attorney General. Attorney General James Announces Every State Has Joined $7.4 Billion Settlement
26
National Opioid Settlements. Purdue and Sacklers Settlements
27
New York Attorney General. Attorney General James Secures $7.4 Billion Purdue Pharma and Sackler Family
28
Pennsylvania Attorney General. Purdue Sackler $7.4 Billion National Opioid Settlement Goes Into Effect
29
Minnesota Attorney General. Opioid Settlement
30
Realtor.com. Sackler Family Purdue Pharma Real Estate
31
Johns Hopkins University. Opioid Industry Archive Releases 1.4 Million Documents