Sackler family breaks silence: Heir to Purdue Pharma fortune plays victim ...

A Sackler heir has broken their silence in a tone-deaf interview with Vanity Fair, seeking public sympathy for what he and his relatives have endured while making almost no mention of the hundreds-of-thousands killed by opioids.

David Sackler speaks out in the current issue of Vanity Fair about the 'vitriolic hyperbole' and 'endless castigation' his family has faced amid the ongoing opioid crisis.

He then offers up an example in his quest for public sympathy, saying:  'I have three young kids. My four-year-old came home from nursery school and asked, "Why are my friends telling me that our family’s work is killing people?"'

David and his relatives pocketed $4 billion from the sale of prescription medications between 2008 and 2016 through the family business, Purdue Pharma. 

More specifically, the profits they pocketed from the sale of opioids such as OxyContin, the tiny but powerful pill that is responsible for Sackler family's never-ending windfall of money and an unprecedented epidemic.  

An epidemic for which David refuses to accept any blame, decrying: 'The notion the Sacklers were in charge of the operation. That’s just so not true.' 

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Joss Sackler

Richard Sackler

Family values: David Sackler, whose father Richard is named as the man responsible for the rise of OxyContin in multiple lawsuits, has spoken to Vanity Fair (David's wife Joss on left, his dad Richard on right)

David's wife Joss celebrated her husband for agreeing speak with Vanity Fair

David's wife Joss celebrated her husband for agreeing speak with Vanity Fair

Death dealer: The Sackler family paid themselves $4,273,489,182 (above) in profits from opioid sales from 2008 and 2016 while over 235,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses

Death dealer: The Sackler family paid themselves $4,273,489,182 (above) in profits from opioid sales from 2008 and 2016 while over 235,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses

The attorney generals of over 40 states who have filed lawsuits against Purdue Pharma and the family do not share David's belief, with one member in particular being singled out as the alleged architect behind the rise of OxyContin - David's father Richard Sackler.

He served as president and chairman of Purdue Pharma at the same time OcyContin sales began to skyrocket.

One lawsuit detailed how Richard bragged about the profits the company was set to reap from OxyContin from the start, telling guests at one party: 'The launch of OxyContin Tablets will be followed by a blizzard of prescriptions that will bury the competition. The prescription blizzard will be so deep, dense, and white.' 

The family is worth $13 billion according to Forbes, but as David bemoans no one will take their money any more, seeing the family as toxic ever since their controversial marketing and aggressive push on doctors to prescribe OxyContin was exposed those various lawsuits as well as a 2017 New Yorker piece.

The deaths caused by the epidemic are an afterthought to David during the interview, where he makes almost no mention of those who have lost their lives in the crisis.

Bethany Mclean, who sat down with David for the piece, notes that it is not until late in the interview that he acknowledges those who have been killed because of he drugs Purdue manufactures and markets.  

David manages to turn that too into an opportunity to declare his family's innocence and decry what he sees as a brutal and unforgiving mob who have unfairly targeted his family, specifically his father and that man's brethren.

'We have so much empathy. I’m sorry we didn’t start with that. We feel absolutely terrible,' says Sackler.

His empathy does not extend far enough to end his remarks there however out of respect for the dead, with David adding: ' Facts will show we didn’t cause the crisis, but we want to help.'

Brothers Jonathan, left, and Richard, right. Richard headed Purdue from 1999 to 2003 and oversaw much of the increasing sales of OxyContin as it was being falsely advertised

Brothers Jonathan, left, and Richard, right. Richard headed Purdue from 1999 to 2003 and oversaw much of the increasing sales of OxyContin as it was beingadvertised

Brothers Jonathan, left, and Richard, right. Richard headed Purdue from 1999 to 2003 and oversaw much of the increasing sales of OxyContin as it was being advertised

The late Mortimer Sackler with his widow, Dame Theresa Sackler who is among members of the family being sued

The late Mortimer Sackler with his widow, Dame Theresa Sackler who is among members of the family being sued

Mortimer David Alfons Sackler, 47, with his wife, Jaqueline. Their Hamptons home has been featured in Vogue 

Jacqueline Sackler and Ivanka Trump in 2007

Mortimer David Alfons Sackler, 47, with his wife, Jaqueline. Their Hamptons home has been featured in Vogue. Jacqueline is shown, right, with Ivanka Trump  in 2007

David, who manages the family's investment fund, explains later in the interview: 'To argue that OxyContin started this is not in keeping with history.'

The Sacklers allegedly pushed high doses of the painkiller Oxycontin while hoping to cash in on anti-overdose drug NARCAN accoridng to one of the many lawsuits filed against them, that one in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 

That lawsuit claims that Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family knew that patients on higher dosages of Oxycontin for long periods were at an increased risk of serious side effects, including addiction, yet they continued to promote the high doses as they yielded the most profit.

A copy of the filing obtained by DailyMail.com showed that from 2008 to 2016, the Sackler family added $4.2 billion to their already massive fortune in profits derived just from the

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