米富豪サックラー家の製薬会社パーデュー解散へ、オピオイド危機で

【ニューヨークＡＦＰ＝時事】米国で危機的な中毒問題を引き起こしたと非難されているオピオイド系鎮痛剤「オキシコンチン」の製造元、米製薬大手パーデュー・ファーマに対し、米連邦裁判所は１日、２０２４年までに解散する計画を承認した。（写真は資料写真）
　創業一族のサックラー家は、オキシコンチンをめぐる数々の訴訟の和解金として４５億ドル（約５０００億円）を支払う一方、「不正や故意の違法行為に起因する場合を除き」、費用や罰金などの「一切の責任を免れる」としている。
　「パーデューは消滅し、実質的にすべての営業資産は、オピオイド危機への対処という公共性の高い使命を持って設立される新会社に譲渡される」と同社は発表した。会社は２０２４年までに売却され、新たな信託型事業体となる予定。
　オキシコンチンは依存性が極めて高く、過去２０年間に全米で５０万人以上の死者を出したオピオイド中毒まん延の元凶とされている。パーデューはオキシコンチンの販売を積極的に推進してきた責任を問われて数多くの訴訟を抱えており、昨年１０月にはうち３件の裁判で有罪を認めていた。
　ニューヨーク州のレティシア・ジェームズ司法長官は、「オピオイドのまん延に火をつけた」パーデューの責任を強調しつつ、今回の合意を歓迎した。
　だが、ワシントン州のボブ・ファーガソン司法長官は、承認された計画には「欠陥がある」と指摘。「不十分だ」として控訴する意向を表明した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/09/02-21:23）

Purdue Pharma, manufacturer of the OxyContin drug that has been blamed for the US opioid crisis, will be dissolved under a plan approved by a federal judge on Wednesday.
However, the Sackler families that founded and profited from the company will largely be shielded from further penalties, though they will pay $4.5 billion to settle the many lawsuits over the sale of opioids.
Purdue will cease to exist, and substantially all of its operating assets will be transferred to a newly formed company with a public-minded mission of addressing the opioid crisis, the drug maker said in a statement.
Facing an avalanche of litigation, Purdue in October pled guilty to three criminal charges over its aggressive drive to push sales of the highly addictive prescription painkiller, which stoked a nationwide addiction crisis and caused more than 500,000 overdose deaths in the United States over the past 20 years.
The company will be sold by 2024 to be replaced by a new entity managed by a trust, which will be required to restrict the promotion of opioid products, and... ensure that all of its products, including all opioid products, are provided in a safe manner that reduces the risk of diversion.
Purdue also will be required to create a repository for tens of millions of documents detailing its sales and marketing practices.
Purdue CEO Steve Miller hailed the agreement that brought the saga to an end, and will provide billions of dollars to National Opioid Abatement Trust (NOAT) and other organizations to deal with the consequences of the addiction crisis.
Instead of years of destructive litigation, the deal ensures that billions of dollars will be devoted to helping people and communities who have been hurt by the opioid crisis, Miller said in a statement.
But the order says the Sacklers shall have no liability for costs or fines except to the extent resulting from fraud or willful misconduct.
- 'Off the hook' -
New York Attorney General Letitia James hailed the agreement, highlighting the documents that will reveal the company's role in igniting the opioid epidemic.
No deal is perfect, and no amount of money will ever make up for the hundreds of thousands who lost their lives, the millions who became addicted, or the countless families torn apart by this crisis, but these funds will be used to prevent future death and destruction as a result of the opioid epidemic, James said in a statement.
However, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced he will appeal the plan, calling it flawed and inadequate.
This order lets the Sacklers off the hook by granting them permanent immunity from lawsuits in exchange for a fraction of the profits they made from the opioid epidemic -- and sends a message that billionaires operate by a different set of rules than everybody else, Ferguson said.
The Sacklers, like many American billionaires, have made donations to prestigious institutions such as the Met Museum in New York. Many of the institutions now ban their donations.
The family's fortune diminished amid the crisis, but was still estimated at around $10.8 billion late last year, according to Forbes, which said much of that wealth came from Purdue.