Family made billions on opioid as crisis raged, filing says

BOSTON (AP) — The family behind OxyContin raked in billions of dollars as it pushed to keep patients on the powerful painkiller longer despite evidence that the drug was helping to fuel the nation's deadly opioid crisis, Massachusetts authorities allege in newly public court documents.

While aggressively marketing OxyContin, the Sackler family also sought to profit off the drug abuse crisis its company helped create by exploring selling drugs used to treat addiction and reverse overdoses, state lawyers contend in previously secret parts of their lawsuit against Purdue Pharma.