Jonathan Sackler, co-owner of Purdue Pharma, dies aged 65

Executive and board member of drug company facing multi-billion-dollar lawsuit over opioid crisis succumbs to cancer

By AP 6 July 2020, 11:14 pm

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Screen capture from video of Jonathan Sackler, co-owner of Purdue Pharma. (YouTube)

STAMFORD, Connecticut — Jonathan Sackler, one of the owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, has died, the company confirmed.

Sackler died June 30, according to a court filing. He was 65 and the cause of death was cancer.

He was the son of Raymond Sackler, one the brothers who bought drug company Purdue Frederick in 1952, and served as an executive and board member for the company that was later renamed Purdue Pharma. Like other members of the Sackler family, he has stepped off the board of the company in recent years, though family members retain ownership.

The company is seeking bankruptcy protection as part of an effort to settle nearly 3,000 lawsuits brought against it by state and local governments that blame the company for sparking the opioid crisis that has killed more than 400,000 Americans since 2000. Hundreds of the lawsuits also name family members.

The company’s settlement plan calls for the family, which has been listed among America’s wealthiest, to pay at least $3 billion and give up ownership of Purdue.