Bankruptcy proceedings against Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin, have often been opaque and bureaucratic, the outcome of the multi-billion dollar settlement shaped by backroom deal-making. But woven into the court record are dozens of personal letters written by people who say their families were ravaged by addiction that began with the company's powerful pain pills. "Aloha, the honorable Judge Drain," begins one letter written by Keola Kekuewa, a resident of Honolulu, in December of last year. He went on to describe the "horrors of opioid addiction." In an interview with NPR, Kekuewa said he wanted to tell the court about his experience losing more than 20 years to substance use after Oxycontin pills flooded his community. "I had an awesome job, I was in love. It was beautiful and I was a beautiful person," he said. "It ended up into needles and accidental overdoses, purposeful suicide attempts. It opened up this dark horrible world that I didn't know existed." In his letter, Kekuewa, asked for more than $2 million in compensation from Purdue Pharma. Under the bankruptcy plan now being finalized he's more likely to receive around $3,500. These letters, some handwritten, many addressed directly to federal bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain, have little bearing on the outcome of the process. But by including them in the public record, Drain allowed a rare window into the human toll of the prescription opioid crisis. The bankruptcy may be measured in dollars, but the...
Read Full Story: https://www.npr.org/2021/08/09/1025171160/victims-of-purdue-pharmas-painkillers-read-their-letters-to-the-court
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.