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March 21st, 2021 
Awake Goy 
Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin, conducted what may be the most extensive investigation yet of the Sackler family, exploring whether they committed crimes or financial improprieties, but the company has kept most of its findings secret.
In a bankruptcy filing late Monday, the drugmaker acknowledged hiring attorneys, forensic accountants and other financial experts to probe members of the family who own the company and profited billions from opioid sales.
According to the filing, the team searched for evidence of wrongdoing by the family, reporting to a special committee of Purdue’s board between April 2019 and earlier this month.
Yet in its filing, Purdue Pharma chose to reveal almost nothing of what investigators uncovered, a decision that infuriates opioid activists and some government officials.
“They’re still trying to cover up the facts,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who has sued the company and it owners, in a statement.
“Purdue’s disclosure filing says it paid its lawyers for a 22,000-hour investigation of the Sacklers, but it doesn’t disclose any of their findings,” she added.
Members of the Sackler family have long denied any wrongdoing.
They were also able to take part in depositions when members of the Sackler family were questioned.
Experts said the investigation appears to be the most sweeping effort yet to explore the Sacklers’ alleged liability for the opioid epidemic, which has killed roughly 450,000 Americans.
Healey said Purdue Pharma has an obligation to release all documents and reports produced by the probe — not least because it was paid for with money owed to people harmed by company.
“Purdue’s creditors paid tens of millions of dollars for that investigation,” she said. “But the public can’t see what the investigators learned.”
Purdue Pharma declined to answer NPR’s questions about the probe or the decision to keep most of its findings secret.
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