When Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, declared bankruptcy in 2019, it had no debt and was worth more than a billion dollars.
How is this possible? Well Purdue was facing trillions in claims over its role in the opioid crisis, which has killed more than 800,000 Americans.
Purdue, and its wealthy owners, members of the Sackler family, wanted a bankruptcy settlement to resolve thousands of lawsuits.
That massive settlement is now on the table, but after five years the legal battle goes on. The Sacklers continue to own Purdue Pharma – and, to this day, not a single victim has received any compensation.
Ryan Hampton: Bankruptcy’s not about justice. That’s what I learned in this process.
Cecilia Vega: What is it about?
Ryan Hampton: It’s about money. It’s about money. It’s about who gets paid the most and who gets paid out in what order.
Ryan Hampton is one of the 140,000 people who filed a claim against Purdue, saying they or someone they love were harmed by its opioids.
Ryan Hampton: I received an absurd amount of medication– from the doctors that I was seeing.
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Hampton was 23 years old when he says he was prescribed OxyContin in 2003 for a knee injury.
A one-time White House intern, Hampton says he quickly became addicted to the powerful opioid, lost his job working on political campaigns and became homeless.
Cecilia Vega: You lost a lot. You lost your home. You lost friends through all this.
Ryan Hampton: I lost my dignity. I lost my self-worth. I can remember many times on the streets and thinking, “If this is all my life is, as long as I am able to get my fix, then I’m completely fine with it.”
With treatment, Hampton overcame his addiction 10 years ago and began speaking out against Purdue and the Sacklers.
He was appointed by the Justice Department in 2019 to represent the financial interests of victims. For two years, he served on a committee of creditors in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case.
As part of that case, in 2020, seven Sacklers – all former Purdue board members or employees – were deposed.
Lawyer (during deposition): And the top-selling opioid at Purdue Pharma was OxyContin, correct?
Dr. Richard Sackler (during deposition): Yes.
Dr. Richard Sackler is a former president of Purdue who, in 2001, helped turn OxyContin into what was at the time the most prescribed brand-name narcotic for pain in the United States. In his deposition, he described the drug’s benefits and was asked about its deadly risks.
Lawyer (during deposition): Now, higher dose OxyContin was more expensive, but it was also more dangerous. Is that accurate?
Lawyer (during deposition): Objection. You may answer.
Dr. Richard Sackler (during deposition): It wasn’t more dangerous for the patient than any other pill.
David Sackler, Richard’s son, helped manage the family’s wealth, and also served on Purdue’s board of directors.
Lawyer (during deposition): What responsibility does Purdue have to the hundreds of thousands of patients who are prescribed Purdue opioids and got OUD?
OUD is opioid use disorder or addiction.
David Sackler (during deposition): What responsibility does it have to them? These were– these were defined risks on the label, and while we feel terrible for them, I think we’ve taken a dramatic amount of responsibility for them…
This past January, the Sacklers and Purdue agreed to pay up to $7.4 billion to settle the bankruptcy case– potentially one of the largest opioid settlements ever.
And while that sounds like a lot, there are 140,000 claims alleging harm – and just about 10% of the total amount will go to victims.
Claiming nearly 90% are creditors including: 48 states, thousands of hospitals, insurance companies, and top pharmacy chains — all of which say they too paid a price in the opioid epidemic.
Ryan Hampton: It felt like every major company under the Sun– was coming for a part of Purdue.
Cecilia Vega: Billions of dollars, in some cases.
Ryan Hampton: Billions– billions of dollars.
Cecilia Vega: Is this just a money grab?
Ryan Hampton: It is a money grab, you know? CVS– they have a pretty massive claim in the bankruptcy. CVS was charged by the Department of Justice for knowingly filling– suspicious opioid prescriptions– as late as last year.
Cecilia Vega: You were on the inside. You were privy to a lot of information that had never been seen publicly. What did you learn that was most surprising?
Ryan Hampton: The most surprising fact for me was that victims were not first in line, but last in line– because there were larger corporate and government interests that wanted to get paid first.
Court records show that lawyers, mediators and others have already pocketed nearly $1 billion paid by Purdue.
Forty one firms have so far been paid more money than victims are expected to get in the $7.4 billion deal, with senior lawyers representing the company charging as much as $2,645 an hour.
Ryan Hampton: It’s sickening.
Cecilia Vega: Do you not see this as something that could help families? This could be the only recourse they have.
Ryan Hampton: Absolutely. But do I think they’re getting a fair shake? Do I think that they’re getting anywhere near what they’re owed, it– knowing that you can’t put a price tag to that? No way.
Cecilia Vega: Is your sense that a lot of those folks might actually not receive payment?
Ryan Hampton: Yes.
Cecilia Vega: That’s a kick in the gut.
Ryan Hampton: It is a kick in the gut.
To have a valid claim, many victims will need to show proof of a Purdue opioid prescription.
That means there are families who do not expect to get a dime in the settlement – like Pete Jackson and Emily Walden.
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Emily Walden: I’ve talked to a lot of parents. I know a lot of people that have filed claims. And nobody wants their blood money. But do they have a right to it? Did they pay for a funeral? Did they pay for treatment due to the actions of that company and the Sacklers? Should they get that money back? Absolutely.
Walden says her son, TJ, became addicted to opioids after taking OxyContin as a teen. He was 21 and in the Kentucky National Guard when he overdosed 13 years ago.
TJ’s death certificate lists “oxycodone” – the active ingredient in OxyContin and other prescription opioids – as a factor. But in the bankruptcy case, that may not be enough proof.
Emily Walden: If it’s on their death certificate, they should have a claim. That’s not right.
Cecilia Vega: Why should someone who wasn’t taking this drug as it was prescribed be eligible for any kind of compensation at all?
Emily Walden: They knew they were making massive profits on putting these on the street. They knew that. Why would they not be held liable for that? You knew it was being diverted. And you let it go.
Pete Jackson’s daughter, Emily, was 18 and days away from starting college in Illinois when she died in 2006.
Her family says she took OxyContin for the first time while drinking at a sleepover with cousins.
Cecilia Vega: You’ve compared OxyContin to leaving a loaded gun on the table.
Pete Jackson: Emily was blindsided. She didn’t know that one pill could kill you.
Cecilia Vega: One pill?
Pete Jackson: One pill.
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Jackson blames the death of his daughter – and countless others – on the way Purdue and the Sacklers marketed OxyContin, pumping up sales despite reports of widespread abuse.
Cecilia Vega: What would you want to hear from the Sacklers?
Emily Walden: I don’t want to hear anything. I wanna hear the jail cell door slam.
Cecilia Vega: What does justice look like to you?
Pete Jackson: Justice would look like a full trial of the Sacklers and Purdue. A criminal trial first and foremost.
But that is increasingly unlikely.
In the bankruptcy depositions, Marianna Sackler, Richard Sackler’s daughter, claimed not to know whether Purdue’s opioids have harmed anyone. Her job was to help Purdue market and sell OxyContin.
Marianna Sackler (during deposition): Many people have been harmed by opioids. I don’t know that many people have been harmed by the opioids that Purdue sold.
Lawyer (during deposition): Do you suspect that people have been harmed by opioids that Purdue sold?
Marianna Sackler (during deposition): I don’t know.
Lawyer (during deposition): So if I understand correctly, people have been killed by opioids, but you don’t know whether any of them were sold by Purdue?
Marianna Sackler (during deposition): Yes.
Purdue the company has pleaded guilty to four felonies over three decades — including that Purdue lied about OxyContin as less addictive and less prone to abuse than other pain medications, like in this promotional video:
Promotional video: Less than 1% of patients taking opioids actually become addicted.
But to this day, no member of the Sackler family or Purdue employee has ever faced felony charges.
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Rick Mountcastle: Companies are not driverless cars. If a company commits a crime, that means there are people, executives, who have used the company or caused the company to commit that crime.
Former federal prosecutor Rick Mountcastle led the four-year investigation that resulted in Purdue’s 2007 guilty plea. His team reviewed hundreds of thousands of documents.
Cecilia Vega: You were ready to charge three top Purdue executives with felonies.
Rick Mountcastle: Yes.
Cecilia Vega: You were hoping they would roll on–
Rick Mountcastle: Absolutely.
Cecilia Vega: –their bosses?
Rick Mountcastle: Yeah. Were not only hoping, but we– we figured it was a– probably a good possibility.
Their bosses were members of the Sackler family, who for decades held a majority on Purdue’s board of directors. But Mountcastle says the felony charges were blocked by his superiors at the Justice Department during the George W. Bush administration.
Instead, the three executives: Purdue’s top lawyer Howard Udell, medical director Paul Goldenheim and President Michael Friedman, pleaded guilty to misdemeanors but denied having any knowledge of Purdue’s crimes.
Lawyer (during deposition): [D]id the Sackler Family scapegoat these three executives?
Dr. Richard Sackler: (during deposition): Quite the contrary. We were very loyal to them.
Lawyer (during deposition): You were so loyal that you paid them millions of dollars in bonuses after they pled guilty to criminal charges?
Dr. Richard Sackler: (during deposition): We did make termination payments to each of them. I don’t remember the amounts.
Lawyer (during deposition): Would it surprise you to know that the amounts were $5 million to Howard Udell and $3 million to Michael Friedman?
Dr. Richard Sackler: (during deposition): No, it would not surprise me.
Rick Mountcastle: Decisions are being made, not based on the facts and what’s in the best interest of the American people; these are decisions that are me– being made based on politics and personal gain.
Cecilia Vega: You spent more than 30 years as a federal prosecutor. Where does–
Rick Mountcastle: Yes.
Cecilia Vega: –all of this leave your faith in the Justice Department?
Rick Mountcastle: I– I– I am greatly disappointed in the Justice Department because everything that the department has done since 2007 to today has been to protect the billionaires, the Sackler family.
The Sacklers maintain their innocence and have agreed to settle claims in the bankruptcy not as an admission of guilt – but to end years of litigation. The family will also give up ownership of Purdue, but their vast wealth remains.
In the years leading up to the bankruptcy, the Sacklers took about $11 billion out of Purdue, more than 70% of the company’s total assets.
60 Minutes asked to interview members of Richard Sackler’s family but did not hear back on that request.
Lawyer (during deposition): Do you have any– experience any guilt from living off the proceeds, at least in part, of the sale of OxyContin?
Marianna Sackler (during deposition): No.
Lawyer (during deposition): Do you believe that Purdue bears any responsibility for the opioid crisis in this country?
Marianna Sackler (during deposition): No.
Purdue Pharma told us in a statement that they are “hard at work” on finalizing the settlement and delivering billions to fight the opioid crisis “as soon as possible.”
Prior to 60 Minutes’ March 9, 2025 broadcast, which featured correspondent Cecilia Vega’s report on the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case, we reached out to Purdue Pharma for comment on our story, “The Settlement.” The company responded to 60 Minutes with the following statement:
“We are gratified to have reached a new agreement with virtually all of the private and governmental stakeholders in these cases. The terms of the settlements are the product of intense work with our creditors, with a single-minded focus on delivering billions of dollars to compensate victims, abate the opioid crisis, and deliver overdose rescue medicines that will save lives. We are now hard at work fully documenting these settlements, including in a new Plan of Reorganization, which we look forward to presenting to the bankruptcy court. We are working to emerge as a public benefit company – 100% devoted to improving the lives of Americans – as soon as possible.”
Produced by Natalie Jimenez Peel. Associate producer, Amanda Winograd-Schnur and Katie Jahns. Edited by Peter M. Berman.
