Owner: Purdue hoped new Oxy would help in crisis; no apology

By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press

A member of the family that owns Purdue Pharma has once again stopped short of offering an apology or acknowledgment of responsibility in the opioid crisis. Mortimer D.A. Sackler testified in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Thursday and was the third member of the wealthy family to testify in the confirmation hearing over Purdue’s restructuring plan. Mortimer D.A. Sackler said the family had hoped that increasing sales of an abuse-deterrent version of OxyContin would help get the U.S. opioid crisis under control. It didn’t, and deaths actually rose. Sackler testified that “we’re sorry if a medicine that we put out that was intended to relieve pain caused pain.”