Washington D.C. (Dec. 14, 2020)—On Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020, at 9:00 a.m., Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, will hold a virtual hearing to examine the role of Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family in fueling the nationwide opioid epidemic for decades by pushing Purdue executives to flood the market with the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin.

In preparation for the hearing, Chairwoman Maloney issued a memo describing documents obtained by the Committee showing how members of the Sackler family used the OxyContin business to “stretch” Purdue’s financial targets and increase earnings.  The documents also reveal how Sackler family members pressured Purdue executives to grow market share for OxyContin and other opioids, including by targeting high-volume prescribers and pushing higher strength doses.

This will be one of the first times members of the Sackler family will testify in public under oath.  Purdue Pharma has generated more than $30 billion since bringing OxyContin to market in 1996, and the Sackler family has withdrawn more than $10 billion from the company.  Nearly 450,000 people in the United States have lost their lives to the opioid epidemic over the past two decades.