S08.E20: Purdue, the Sackler Family, and the Opioid Epidemic

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Main topic:  Purdue, the Sackler Family, and the Opioid Epidemic

Also: Investigation of sexual harassment by Andrew Cuomo; the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) at the Olympics; the electrifying small talk of San Antonio's 'Daytime with Kimberly & Esteban' 

Original air date 2021.08.08

[Annber03]

That version (and I use that term extremely loosely here) of "Shout". Holy shit. No. Just...just no. Stop it. That crime against music alone should be enough to put members of this family in jail. Maybe they should play that the next time the Russians try to sneak around the restrictions against them and participate in the Olympics. 

It's absolutely maddening that people like this family can get away without being personally affected when their company files bankruptcy (and for such criminal, shady behavior at that), but your average family who has to file bankruptcy for medical reasons (some of which came from the very opioid crisis people like the Sacklers helped create) or other serious reasons that were beyond their control has to wind up struggling and scrimping and saving just to keep their heads above water. Our system really is so horribly fucked up. 

And yeah, if you have to take out an entire website to try and defend your family because you're grumpy about all the things people say about their shady and criminal behavior, you've clearly taken a wrong turn somewhere. Love John's response to that, by creating the opposing website to share the actual facts, and what's more, letting the victims and their families actually get their say for a change. Love Richard Kind participating in that, too :D. 

[scarynikki12]

I could watch hours of Kimberly and Esteban. They're a hilarious mix of "I don't want to be on daytime" and "we are each other's worst sex ever".

I also prefer the show's version of Sackler's deposition.

Ollie should 100% spend an episode fucking with linguists and specifically the Sacklers. 

That this despicable family gets to retain billions of dollars is horrifying. They should be left with a few thousand each and the rest taken and put into public benefit programs. They should be in prison for certain but taking away their money will matter more to them so it needs to happen.

No Ollie we should be praising David for putting his thoughts in the permanent legal record. The more thoughts the better! It can help them lose the lawsuits.

We really need to rewrite bankruptcy law. The White Plains move is the kind of bullshit that should be illegal and worthy of a crazy high fine as punishment.

Richard Kind remains a treasure.

I love Ollie choosing violence. 

23 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Maybe they should play that the next time the Russians try to sneak around the restrictions against them and participate in the Olympics.

At the last Winter Olympics someone suggested that the uniforms, flag, anthem, and credit for any Russian athletes who win medals should go to either a country that never wins anything or one that would piss them off like Ukraine. Make it a real punishment. Not getting to raise their flag or play their anthem? Big fucking deal. They can imagine both with ease. But making them compete for another country since the IOC is too chickenshit to outright ban them is a good alternative.

[Annber03]

16 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

At the last Winter Olympics someone suggested that the uniforms, flag, anthem, and credit for any Russian athletes who win medals should go to either a country that never wins anything or one that would piss them off like Ukraine. Make it a real punishment. Not getting to raise their flag or play their anthem? Big fucking deal. They can imagine both with ease. But making them compete for another country since the IOC is too chickenshit to outright ban them is a good alternative.

Ha, that's an interesting idea :D. I like that  I do wonder if that would make Russia angry enough to want to retaliate against those countries in some way or another afterward, but it's certainly an option worth considering regardless. 

[ahisma]

“How do you make two proper nouns into a double negative? Joss and David.”

BOOM! Linguist fucked with!

I adore Richard Kind.

And I love when John invests HBO’s money in shenanigans! Keep telling the truth about these absolute asshole billionaires,

[JustHereForFood]

I have expected a full segment dedicated to controversies around this Olympics - I don't even care about them and even I have heard/seen enough for at least two segments. Maybe next week.

I remember the Sacklers from the last segment about opioids and did not expect that it could get worse. Clearly I have not yet learned the lesson. So now I expect that in a year, there will be a segment number 4 saying that it got even worse. Sigh.

I admit that I am sometimes not that thrilled about John's money spending (like with that Guinness record cake), but this was good. If only the name of the website was something more catchy, like perhaps including the Sackler name, so that it would pop up in web browsers when people search about them.

[Jediknight]

There's only one problem with Richard Kind as a Sackler, he's way too likeable to be a Sackler.  Even as cheapskate Paul in Spin City, he was incredibly likeable.

[paigow]

4 minutes ago, Jediknight said:

There's only one problem with Richard Kind as a Sackler, he's way too likeable to be a Sackler.

Plenty of TV billionaires are unlikable... like anyone from Succession

[Victor the Crab]

Richard Kind was the only thing enjoyable about that Sackler segment. It just proves that there are two types of laws and justices in society.

The tension between Kimberly and Estaban is so thick, you could...oh, did I say tension? I meant to say tedium!

Couldn't care about those cheatin' Russians. They seem to get off on their outlaw status. Ollie might have been better off discussing why some Americans are cheering against their own athletes!

[peeayebee]

50 minutes ago, Victor the Crab said:

The tension between Kimberly and Estaban is so thick, you could...oh, did I say tension? I meant to say tedium!

:D ! Exactly. Neither exudes a bit of charisma or even personality. Is that the best San Antonio can offer for morning hosts?

I haven't been watching the Olympics, but I did see a mention of the Russian Olympic Committee, which puzzled me. I didn't know anything about that. As John led up to suggesting an alternate song for a winning Russian team, I wondered what he had chosen. Cars For Kids was perfect.

Woo boy, that Sackler segment was depressing. John's new website was a bit of a bright spot. Loved hearing the different readings of Richard Kind's "I don't know."

I must have missed how the Purdue HQ's "moving" to White Plains sheltered their money. Can someone explain?

 

[Brandi Maxxxx]

Because it would put them under the jurisdiction of one particular judge who is likely to rule in their favor.

[swanpride]

First of all: Great that he called out the Russia BS. I mean, I get the idea to give Russian athletes a chance to compete, but how about an "Olympic team of free athletes" which features not just Russians, but also other athletes who can't or won't compete under the flag of some country for whatever reason? Add to this that this Olympics were overall very suspect due to the lack of drug testing in the past year (since the facilities were needed for Corona testing) ... though granted, since Russian athletes were the only ones which did get tested regularly, they were most likely the smallest problem this time around....

Otherwise...honestly, the moment I heard about them pleading guilty I knew that this would only happen in exchange for escaping Scott free. It's actually quite of depressing that nothing in the segment was surprising. 

[ALenore]

John Oliver is actually mentioned in "Empire of Pain," the book shown in the background at the beginning of the main story.  

From The New York Times Book Review, April 13, 2021 by John Carreyrou:

Quote

 

In April 2019, the comedian John Oliver devoted a segment of his satirical newscast on HBO to the Sacklers, owners of the company that makes the powerful painkiller OxyContin. Public anger toward the family for seeding America’s opioid epidemic was building, and Oliver added to the opprobrium that evening by lampooning statements made by one of its members in court documents that had recently become public. Under the circumstances, you might have expected the Sacklers to feel chastened and lie low. But that would be badly underestimating their callousness. 

Jacqueline Sackler, who married into the clan, tried to get Oliver to kill the segment before it aired. When that didn’t work, she sent an angry email to others in the family lamenting that the show was her son’s favorite and complaining that the unwanted media attention was interfering with his high school prospects. “Lives of children are being destroyed,” she railed, apparently unaware how entitled and tone-deaf she sounded.

 

 

 

[paigow]

Maybe HBO can pay another small town to put the Sackler name on its morgue

Edited August 9, 2021 by paigow

[andromeda331]

Still two different laws for people in America. This is the "best" they can do. Really? Is it really the best they can do? Somehow how I doubt. They could do better if they wanted too. Like make the Sackler family actually pay for their crimes. But John's probably right they won't. 

Richard Kind is awesome.

[Bumblebee84047]

On 8/8/2021 at 9:58 PM, scarynikki12 said:

I could watch hours of Kimberly and Esteban. They're a hilarious mix of "I don't want to be on daytime" and "we are each other's worst sex ever".

Halfway through that segment I turned to my roommate and said "Wow, they really hate each other!"

[xaxat]

That bankruptcy judge shares some of the blood the Sacklers have on their hands.

[Lantern7]

I think the "SELL!" number was funny . . . when I put aside the countless number of those addicted and dead because of opioids.

Have the Sacklers made any moves against John? Or are they too rich to care what he says? Well, at lease John can take solace in continuing to piss off The Void.

And yeah, any athletes from banned countries in the Olympics should absolutely be forced to wear Shrek hoodies and poop emoji slippers. I get that the IOC doesn't want to punish people for coming from nations that knowingly broke the rules, but keeping their nations' colors shouldn't be an option.

[Victor the Crab]

I have an internet friend from San Antonio. I asked her if she knows anything about Kimberly and Estaban, that daytime duo that are about as interesting as mud.

She says she never heard of them.

[xaxat]

It worked.

The Sackler Family Has Won Immunity From All Future Opioid Lawsuits

Quote

The Sacklers, who admit no wrongdoing and who by their own reckoning earned more than $10 billion from opioid sales, will remain one of the wealthiest families in the world.

This is so infuriating. And fuck that judge.

[Victor the Crab]

1 hour ago, xaxat said:

It worked.

The Sackler Family Has Won Immunity From All Future Opioid Lawsuits

This is so infuriating. And fuck that judge.

No surprise there. As I said before, there are two types of justices in our society!

[xaxat]

It's not over.

Judge tosses $4.5 bln deal shielding Purdue's Sackler family from opioid claims

Quote

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan said in a written ruling on Thursday the bankruptcy court did not have the legal authority to release the family from liability. She noted the ruling was likely to be appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Like the judge, I'm sure there is an appeal coming.

Edited December 17, 2021 by xaxat