Photo: Philip Montgomery / New Yorker.

In 2019, an average of 136 people per day died in the United States due to overdoses involving opioids. In the wake of COVID-19, concerns about relapses and overdosing have increased. In response, critics argue that the executives in charge of opioid manufacturers carry a significant portion of the blame for this crisis and ought to be punished. This module has you learn a little bit about the opioid crisis and analyze an argument about why prosecuting opioid executives is the right thing to do.

In particular, this module has three learning outcomes. By the end of it, you will be able to…

1. Explain the nature of the opioid crisis and the role that opioid manufacturers may have played in it,
2. Identify the structure of German Lopez’s argument for pursuing criminal charges against the owners and executives of those manufacturers, and
3. Reflect on who you hold responsible for the opioid crisis.

Read This:

The Case for Prosecuting the Sacklers and Other Opioid Executives

Context

Throughout the course, I will connect what you are learning to real-world situations. So now that you have a better sense of what constitutes an argument, we can apply that to an article by German Lopez. As the title suggests, Lopez wants to argue that the Sacklers and other opioid company executives should be punished for their role in the opioid crisis.

As the article will explain, many members of the Sackler family were involved in the founding and running of Purdue Pharma, a multinational pharmaceutical company. This company is a major manufacturer and distributer of opioids, from which the Sackler family profited greatly.

Reading Questions

As you read, keep these questions in mind:

1. What reasons does German Lopez give for prosecuting the Sacklers and other opioid company executives?
2. Can you reconstruct your interpretation of his argument with an argument diagram?

Although I strongly suggest that you write out brief answers to these questions, you do not have to turn in written responses. You do, however, need to be prepared to answer questions like these on module quizzes and the unit exams.

References

Lopez, G. (2019, October 10). The case for prosecuting the Sacklers and other opioid executives. Vox. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/10/10/20881636/sacklers-purdue-opioid-epidemic-prison-prosecution-criminal-investigation

Watch This:

Video 1	Video 2
Video 3	Video 4

Do This:

Module 4 Quiz Due: September 11
5 Tweets this Week Due: September 11
Unit 1 Exam Due: September 12
Submit the Unit 1 Exam here!

Curious for More?

If you are curious about what has happened more recently regarding Purdue Pharma, here are some updates:

OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Pleads Guilty in Criminal Case

Sackler Family Empire Poised To Win Immunity From Opioid Lawsuits

It is worth emphasizing, though, that the first article is about a criminal case against the company (Purdue Pharma) and not against the company’s owners and executives (the Sackler family). The second article brings this point home, suggesting that the Sackler family may gain immunity against such lawsuits. In short, things currently look bad for the company but not for the family.

A very special thanks to both Cassidy Jensen (Intro Ethics, Fall 2020) and Jacob Hutton (Business Ethics, Fall 2020) for bringing the first of these articles to my attention.