The family that owns a drug company is now being sued over the toll of opioid painkillers in one New York county — and it’s likely to be sued by more.
More than 1,000 lawsuits have been filed by state and local governments blaming drug companies for a crisis of addiction and overdoses across the country.
Only a few have named members of the Sackler family, which controls Purdue Pharma, as a defendant.
But a new filing by New York’s Suffolk County claims family members participated in billing OxyContin as non-addictive even though they knew that was not the case.
Lawyer Paul Hanly says the roughly 200 other local governments he represents in similar suits will also be going after the Sacklers.
A spokesman for the family declined to comment.
