Purdue Pharma is a privately held pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. The Sackler family purchased Purdue in 1952. In 1996, Purdue started manufacturing and marketing the prescription opioid OxyContin, which has generated more than $30 billion in sales revenue.
In 2007, Purdue and several of its executives pled guilty to federal criminal charges for misrepresenting OxyContin’s addiction risk and in 2020, Purdue pled guilty to federal conspiracy charges for misrepresenting its anti-diversion program, for facilitating the dispensing of opioids, including OxyContin, without a legitimate medical purpose, and for paying kickbacks to doctors to prescribe opioids. In 2019, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform (HOC) launched an investigation to examine the role of Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family in fueling the nationwide opioid epidemic.
The House Oversight Committee released these documents to the public in 2020 and 2021.
The collection consists of 562 documents produced by Purdue to the HOC and one 70-page transcript from the December 17, 2020 HOC hearing. The documents consist primarily of Purdue emails and sales data. Most of the sales data relates to the drug OxyContin, but other reports discuss the drugs Butrans, Intermezzo and Hysingla. Many of the emails involve Purdue executives and Board members, including members of the Sackler family.
Also included are reports to the Purdue Board of Directors, Compensation Committee reports and compliance reports, as well as reports and presentations from consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
The hearing transcript documents the testimony of Purdue representatives David Sackler, Kathe Sackler and CEO Craig Landau. The witnesses were questioned about Purdue sales practices, specifically related to OxyContin, as well as large cash withdrawals from the company made by Sackler family members.
Opioid Industry Documents Archive team members have not performed or commissioned any redactions on these documents.
