Oxycontin Victims Face Sackler Family In Court

26 people from across the US got their moment to address the Sacklers directly about the pain that their business decisions caused.

Paywall link, apologies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by https://ift.tt/evD3Mnb “This is a day like no other in the history of American jurisprudence,” Anne Andrews, a lawyer on a committee for 70,000 relatives and those in recovery, said just before the start of the hearing. “The Sacklers have to listen to the direct victims of their crimes, the stories of people who have died, who lost the potential of their lives. But for years the Sacklers painted them in their emails as slime, addicts, as low lifes, and that it was their fault they were addicted. But they are America. They are you and me.”

I don't know how much, if any, catharsis was felt by the families, nor self-realization by the billionaires. I do know that they did not respond, and that Dr. Richard Sackler did not even have his camera turned on.

I have been in board rooms and management meetings when decisions are made that affect the lives of many people that are nowhere near that room. Corporate decisions arise purely out of the incentive structure in place.

Quote:

A grandmother who lost a son and a grandson to addiction described her struggle to get treatment for grandchildren born with signs of withdrawal from the drug, even pawning her wedding band to pay for their services, often having to choose which child needed them more urgently because her resources were so limited. ... On Zoom, Mr. Nelson, the Indiana father, and his wife Kristi, sat in front of a wall of bookshelves, and began their remarks by playing the recording of a chaotic 911 call: “Oh God he’s dead!” Mrs. Nelson’s shrieks erupted over and over, as the phone operator tried to discern vital details. She had just found her 20-year-old son, Bryan, the couple’s only child, dead from an overdose, within years of having been prescribed OxyContin after a car accident. After the recording Mrs. Nelson spoke to the camera: “Richard, you are truly a selfish, greedy, cold hearted, cruel, callous S.O.B. ”

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/5SVKmk2