Opioid victims get long-awaited chance to confront Sacklers

A virtual hearing Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court gave survivors of opioid addiction and people who lost loved ones to the crisis what they have long desired — the chance to confront members of the family behind OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma. They blamed the Sackler family members for helping fuel the epidemic through marketing of Purdue's signature painkiller OxyContin and for failing to take responsibility for their role.

Three Sackler family members attended the hearing: Richard, Theresa and David Sackler. Under court rules, they could not respond and had to sit silently while roughly two dozen people gave emotional statements.

Richard Sackler appeared only via audio; he is the former Purdue president and board chair who has said the company and family bear no responsibility for the opioid crisis. He also is a son of Raymond Sackler, one of the three brothers who in the 1950s bought the company that became Purdue Pharma. Theresa Sackler is a British dame and wife of the late Mortimer D. Sackler, another of the brothers, while David Sackler is Richard Sackler’s son. Both appeared on video.

What some of the victims, selected by lawyers for creditors in the case, said when they finally got the chance to speak directly to the Sacklers:

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‘SCUM OF THE EARTH’

Kristy Nelson played a tape of her 911 call reporting that her son was unresponsive. Later this month, she and her husband will go to the cemetery to mark what would have been Brian’s 34th birthday and pointed out that Richard Sackler turned 77 on Thursday: “I understand today’s your birthday, Richard. How will you be celebrating? I guarantee it won’t be in the cemetery. ... You have truly benefitted from the death of children. You are scum of the earth.”

Her husband, Bill, a judge in Indianapolis, added: “I...