Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

by Patrick Radden Keefe

But as further specifics of the Cleveland proposal emerged, the Sacklers’ offer turned out to be more complicated and considerably less spectacular. The plan was for Purdue to declare bankruptcy and then be converted into a “public benefit trust.” According to Purdue’s lawyers, the trust would include more than $4 billion in new drugs to treat addiction and counteract overdoses, which would be provided as an in-kind gift. That would be supplemented by an additional $3 or $4 billion in drug sales by the version of Purdue that would emerge from bankruptcy as a public trust. So the personal contribution of the Sacklers would be not $10 billion (much less $12 billion) but $3 billion. And even that money would not come out of pocket. Instead, the Sacklers suggested that their contribution be financed by selling off Mundipharma, the global pharmaceutical concern that had continued to cultivate new markets for opioids abroad.