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In a first-of-its-kind appearance on Capitol Hill, two members of the Sackler family that controls Purdue Pharma apologized for the suffering caused by the opioid crisis but otherwise denied wrongdoing and failed to accept personal responsibility for their company’s role in it. Mostly, the session before the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform gave lawmakers the chance to angrily chastise Kathe Sackler and David Sackler, who were threatened with subpoenas after they first declined to testify. (Silverman, 12/17)

Testifying in public for the first time in decades, members of the family who led OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma apologized Thursday to victims of the national opioid epidemic but did not go as far as accepting personal responsibility for the health crisis. David Sackler, who served on Purdue’s board from 2012 to 2018, and Kathe Sackler, a board member from 1990 to 2018 and a former vice president, faced heated questioning from the House Oversight Committee about how much they knew about the addictive nature of opioids when they encouraged sales of the company’s blockbuster drug OxyContin and what their financial gains were. Purdue chief executive Craig Landau also testified. (Kornfield, 12/17)

Members of Purdue Pharma’s Sackler family testified before the House Oversight Committee Thursday, marking one of the first times in years the family had been publicly questioned under oath on the company's role in the deadly opioid epidemic. The hearing comes as members of the Sackler family, who deny any personal wrongdoing in the opioid crisis, attempt to settle thousands of civil claims filed against them and Purdue Pharma by states and cities claiming they fueled and epidemic killing more than 400,000 people. (Hellmann, 12/17)

Kathe Sackler, David Sackler’s cousin, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee that she knows “the loss of any family member or loved one is terribly painful and nothing is more tragic than the loss of a child.” “As a mother,” she said, “my heart breaks for the parents who have lost their children. I am so terribly sorry for your pain.” Asked about her role, she said she had done soul-searching. “I have tried to figure out if there’s anything I could have done differently knowing what I knew then, not what I know now,” she said. “There is nothing I can find that I would have done differently.” (Mulvihill, 12/17)

The singularity of the Sacklers’ appearance on Thursday was underscored by the likelihood that they may never testify in open court, because the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and nationwide litigation may resolve in settlements rather than trials. ... During the tense, nearly four-hour hearing, David Sackler, 40, and his cousin, Dr. Kathe Sackler, 72, who both served on the company’s board for years, testified remotely and largely sidestepped would-be booby traps and deflected blame to “management” and independent, nonfamily board members. (Hoffman, 12/17)

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) sharply criticized members of the Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma, during a virtual hearing of the House Oversight Committee on Thursday that examined the company's involvement in the opioid addiction crisis. Pointing to expensive properties purchased by a trust connected to David Sackler amid the worst of the opioid crisis in America, Krishnamoorthi accused the Sacklers of being "addicted to money." (Bowden, 12/17)

Although the opioid crisis in the U.S. continues to make headlines, a new analysis finds that prescription opioid use has dropped by 60% since 2011 — when prescribing was highest— and by the end of this year, usage is expected to drop to levels not seen in nearly two decades. (Silverman, 12/17)

The US has seen a substantial increase in fatal drug overdoses and set a record for deaths from overdoses in the year that ended in May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. The worst of the deaths coincide with closures and other measures taken to control the pandemic, the CDC said in a health alert. (Kallingal and Fox, 12/18)