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We now have information from the court papers, which show

June 7, 2018 by Carolyn Mueller

We now have information from the court papers, which show how the Sacklers tried to hide the fact that they were using OxyContin. The new lawsuit also reveals that the Sacklers were also involved in a series of deceptive sales tactics, including one that falsely claimed that Purdue would send users of OxyContin to a hospital for a treatment that actually took place. The case was settled out of court—the Sacklers had to pay $2.2 million—but the Sacklers may not have been the only ones to use OxyContin.

It's not clear what the Sacklers or their employees did with the documents. Ars obtained a copy from the U.S. attorney's office, which is investigating the case, and it's unclear if it's true or not. At the time of writing, the U.S. attorney's office couldn't say whether charges are pending against the Sacklers.

"We are concerned about the extent to which their actions were consistent with federal law, and are actively pursuing these matters," the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement to Ars. "We are continuing to engage with prosecutors and will present additional information and documents to the court."

Conduct in the Sackler's Legal Attorneys' Office

The Sacklers' lawyers say they are in a strong position. During the trial, they represented a number of drug companies—including American Bancorp, OxyContin, and others—who have been sued by Purdue Pharma, the pharmaceutical industry's largest pharmacy and medical device company. In May, the Sacklers, led by Richard Sackler, filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Health and Human Services claiming that the state had failed to fully investigate and prosecute their case because the Sackler's attorneys had made false or misleading statements to the public.

The Sackler's attorneys claim that they had been "uncooperative" with the feds, and that their client had been "unresponsive" to pressure from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). They also point out that, during the trial, the Sacklers' attorneys were "uncooperative," which is not a favorable characterization of the state's actions.