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OxyContin Maker May Have Reached Deal With 22 AGs. Healey Is Not One Of Them

The company that makes OxyContin and is under fire for its role in the opioid epidemic has reportedly agreed to a tentative settlement with 22 state attorneys general and thousands of municipalities — but not Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Purdue Pharma is in agreement "with 22 state attorneys general and more than 2,000 cities and counties that sued the company and accused it of fueling the opioid crisis."

Healey, who has been resistant to a reported settlement of between $10 billion to $12 billion with Purdue Pharma over apparent concerns that the family that owns the company would not contribute enough of its own fortune, is not one of the attorneys general who signed onto the settlement, her office said.

"The families who were hurt by Purdue and the Sacklers have spoken loud and clear that this case demands real accountability, and I will continue to fight for that," Healey said in the statement Wednesday. "It’s critical that all the facts come out about what this company and its executives and directors did, that they apologize for the harm they caused, and that no one profits from breaking the law. These families deserve justice.”

Over the weekend, The Associated Press and NPR reported that the Sackler family, which owns Purdue, rejected demands that they forfeit $4.5 billion in their own money as part of the settlement.

Previous reports had pegged the amount from the Sacklers' pockets at $3 billion over seven years and another $1.5 billion from the sale of another family-owned company.

In a statement last week Healey's office also said the lawsuit against Purdue and the Sacklers is about "exposing the facts, making them pay for the harm they caused, and shutting them down for good."

In June 2018, Healey filed the first state lawsuit against individual members of the Sackler family as well as Purdue Pharma, alleging that they "engaged in a deadly, deceptive scheme to sell opioids in Massachusetts" and profited from the drug epidemic they helped create.

With additional reporting from the WBUR Newsroom

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