Tom Hals and Dietrich Knauth

(Reuters) – On Thursday, victims of America’s opioid addiction epidemic will face the family members of OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma in court. This is an effort to make them accountable for their part in a crisis which claimed 500,000 deaths from overdoses.

Zoom’s two-hour hearing was held in connection with a $6 billion settlement reached between Sacklers & state attorneys general. The settlement could help to resolve family claims about their role during the crisis, without having them go to trial.

The Sacklers won’t be able respond at the hearing.

Dita Bhargava said that her son, who died after a fatal fentanyl overdose, thought it would be an enormous relief for those people sharing their stories.

While it wasn’t clear who would speak at the meeting, thousands of individuals who had filed personal injuries against Purdue Pharma were represented on the official creditors committee.

A minimum of one person will attend the funeral of Raymond Sackler. One from the Mortimer Sackler family, one of two siblings who were doctors and bought Purdue in 1952.

Family members of Sackler did not respond when asked.

Family members of the Sackler have repeatedly denied that wrongdoing occurred. In a statement last week, they said that OxyContin had “unexpectedly become part of an opioid crises.”

Richard Sackler said in August to the bankruptcy court, that no family member was responsible for the crisis. His son David Sackler, who was also present at the hearing, said that his family had a moral responsibility to curb the epidemic of opioids.

Together with several family members, they served on the Purdue Board. They have been accused in lawsuits of deceptive marketing for addictive painkillers.

Purdue Pharma filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy for 2019; the court granted the Sacklers legal protections against being sued. This is one of the major benefits to filing bankruptcy even though the relatives never filed.

The U.S. Department of Justice is challenging this controversial protection in court.

A $6 billion settlement requires that millions of pages from within the company be made publicly.