The opioid crisis.
Over the course of two decades, millions of Americans
have become addicted to these painkillers.
And after years of people demanding
that someone be held accountable,
the drug companies are finally starting to pay a price.
There is word tonight of a settlement
involving thousands of lawsuits tied to the opioid crisis.
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma
has reached an agreement with 22 new states
and about 2,000 local governments
over its role in the deadly epidemic.
The company will pay up to $12 billion over time,
with three billion coming from the Sackler family.
They own Perdue Pharma
and will also give up control of the company.
You know, I'll be honest with you,
I'm torn about this story.
You know, yes, I'm happy
that the opioid companies will have to pay,
but at the same time, they misled sick people
about how addictive their drugs were. Right?
They also lobbied to lift limits
on how many opioids doctors could prescribe.
And then now that they've made billions of dollars
off an epidemic that caused countless deaths,
they just get to be like, "Uh, how about we give you
some of that money back and we call it even?"
I think it's bullshit. I'll be honest.
Imagine someone broke into your house,
stole a bunch of your stuff, and then when you busted them,
they're like, "All right, all right, you got me.
"How about I break you off a hundred
and we call it even, yeah?"
Yeah, and then you're like, "That's my wallet."
He's like, "Okay, $120, $120.
But I get to keep the library card, okay?"
And even though, even though this opioid crisis
has been in the news for the past few years,
the family who profited most from a lot of this devastation
has managed to remain fairly anonymous.
But now we're finally meeting the men behind the curtain.
NEWSMAN: For the first time we're now seeing and hearing
from Dr. Richard Sackler,
the former chairman and president of Perdue Pharma,
respond to questions under oath.
Do you know how much the Sackler family has made
-off the sale of OxyContin? -I don't know.
Do you know if it's over ten billion dollars?
I don't think so.
Do you know if it's over five billion dollars?
I don't know.
But fair to say it's over a billion dollars?
It would be fair to say that, yes.
Really? Really? This guy's gonna act like he doesn't know
if he made a billion dollars?
Get the (bleep) out of here, man.
You see him acting like he's thinking about it?
"Uh... did I...?
Yeah, I guess you could say..."
He's acting like he has to count up all his change.
"Well, I did get that ten dollars from grandma.
"And I made $150 from the yard sale.
"Oh, yeah, there's a billion dollars
"from killing thousands of Americans
"by lying to them about their painkillers.
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot that part.
Oh, and I got the library card, yeah, the library card."
And the Sackler's, they-they aren't the only ones
facing consequences for their role
in fueling the opioid epidemic.
Right? Everyone's favorite baby shampoo company
has also been told it's time to pay up.
Yesterday, an Oklahoma judge ruled
that opioids ravaged the state,
and ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million.
The judge said that the company intentionally misled
the public about the dangers of its drugs.
TV REPORTER: Johnson & Johnson stock was up
as much as five percent since the company was ordered
to pay far less than many investors expected.
Yeah, you heard that right.
Johnson & Johnson's stock actually went up
after they were fined $572 million
because they expected the punishment to be much worse.
They expected the punishment to be worse. Yeah.
And that tells you something.
It's like a guy coming out of the shower
and his girlfriend is like,
"Uh, you've got some explaining to do.
"I was looking through your phone
"and who is this puppy you met?
"It is adorable. You know I love puppies.
Why didn't you tell me?" And the guy's like,
"Oh, yeah. Oh, the puppy...
"that I'm totally not having sex with.
Yeah, the puppy."
So, as it stands,
these drug companies are gonna pay a bunch of fines,
not even admit responsibility.
And no one seems to be going to jail,
which is insane when you think about it, right?
Like, just think about the levels here.
Prosecutors want Felicity Huffman
to go to jail for cheating in a college admissions scandal.
They want her to go to jail for that.
But the people responsible
for thousands of American deaths get to walk away
with a slap on the wrist.
These people are basically very formal drug dealers
who are now protected just because they're a corporation.
But if you look at someone like El Chapo,
what's the major difference?
Right? Be like, oh, it's more violent.
Yes, but fundamentally, he's a drug dealer.
They're all drug dealers.
The Feds took his money.
Yeah, and he's spending the rest of his life in prison.
So if you think about it,
El Chapo really only made one big mistake:
he shouldn't have been a drug lord,
he should have been the CEO of El Chapo, Inc.