{"id":402659,"date":"2019-04-08T01:19:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T00:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/big-political-spenders-under-scrutiny-for-role-in-opioid-crisis\/"},"modified":"2019-04-08T01:19:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T00:19:00","slug":"big-political-spenders-under-scrutiny-for-role-in-opioid-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/big-political-spenders-under-scrutiny-for-role-in-opioid-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Political Spenders Under Scrutiny for Role in Opioid Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As the opioid crisis continues to ravage the country <\/span>killing more than<\/span><\/a> 130 people per day in the U.S., the makers of the addictive opioid OxyContin face <\/span>tightening legal challenges<\/span><\/a>. The company, <\/span>Purdue Pharma<\/span><\/a>, has been run by the wealthy and influential Sackler family for generations. In 2016, the Sacklers were listed <\/span>by Forbes<\/span><\/a> as the 19th richest family in America with a $13 billion net worth. Both Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler clan have been active in the political realm.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company and family have a <\/span>widespread philanthropic influence<\/span><\/a> as donors to high-profile locales like the Louvre, the Guggenheim, Columbia University and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Now they are faced with numerous lawsuits, including two from the <\/span>Massachusetts<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>New York<\/span><\/a> attorney generals that allege the family contributed to the opioid epidemic through deceitful advertising techniques regarding the powerful OxyContin painkiller.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the company increasingly in the crosshairs of the courts and 2020 <\/span>presidential contenders<\/span><\/a> like <\/span>Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/span><\/a> (I-Vt.), Purdue Pharma stepped up its Congressional lobbying efforts the past two years. In 2017, the <\/span>company spent<\/span><\/a> $940,000 and increased it to $1.12 million in 2018, its highest level ever. Nine of the 10 lobbyists Purdue Pharma <\/span>employed in 2018<\/span><\/a> are members of the <\/span>\u201crevolving door<\/span><\/a>\u201d with close Capitol Hill connections like lobbyist <\/span>Dora Hughes<\/span><\/a>, a former health policy advisor to then-Sen. Barack Obama.<\/span><\/p>\n

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