Author and addiction advocate, Ryan Hampton, joins us to talk about his experience trying to hold Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family accountable for the horrific opioid plague they helped set in motion as outlined in his book, “Unsettled, How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis.” Plus, Ralph answers a listener question about Medicare (Dis)Advantage.
Ryan Hampton is a national addiction recovery advocate, community organizer, and author. Mr. Hampton was co-chair of the official creditor’s committee that acted as a watchdog during Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy proceedings. His latest book is Unsettled: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis.
We think of the Sackler family as the First Family of Big Pharma. And rightly so, for many reasons. They released OxyContin in the 90s utilizing tactics that were criminal, and false advertising, and false marketing. In fact, they pretty much wrote their own new drug approval (or NDA) with the FDA in the late 90s… Let me repeat that: Purdue Pharma wrote their own drug approval that went on to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Ryan Hampton, author of Unsettled: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis
At the end of this, [the Sackler family] will be richer than they are today and have paid the settlement back. That is insanity. This bankruptcy–it wasn’t a bankruptcy, it was a heist. It was a scam. It was a money grab.
Ryan Hampton, author of Unsettled: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis
This is beyond the imagination of writers of fiction about corporate fugitives from justice… And listeners should know that individuals can’t get away with this, with bankruptcy. There now is a double standard: the privileges, immunities, escapes from justice under corporate bankruptcy laws are far, far more enabling then any debtor who tries to start a clean slate and declares bankruptcy for a few thousand dollars of debt. This is a double standard that someday should be challenged under the equal protection laws of the US Constitution.
Ralph Nader
[The Sacklers] are now moving to eliminate the last remaining social sanction for their crimes, which is stigma. And it shows you the power that these corporations have: they escaped from regulation. They escaped essentially from criminal prosecution. None of these people are going to jail. They escaped from the state attorney generals. And now they want to escape from stigma, and just come back and start their mode of operating and getting more profits.
Ralph Nader
Did The Sacklers Get Away With It?