Massachusetts has filed a lawsuit against 16 top executives of Purdue Pharma, the maker of the popular drug OxyContin, claiming they misled doctors, patients and the public about the dangers posed by the opioid-based painkiller. This is Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

Attorney General Maura Healey: “Their strategy was simple: The more drugs they sold, the more money they made—and the more people died. We found that Purdue engaged in a multibillion-dollar enterprise to mislead us about their drugs. Purdue pushed prescribers to give higher doses to keep patients on drugs for longer periods of time, without regard to the very real increased risk of addiction, overdose and death.”

Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50, with opioids as the number-one driver. Click here to see our interview with the Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times journalist Barry Meier on his book “Pain Killer” about OxyContin, about Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family.