The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is hosting an expert briefing for the media from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT, Thursday, June 15, on the recent Purdue Pharma ruling that shields the Sackler family from current and future civil lawsuits in exchange for contributing up to $6 billion to states and communities to fight the opioid epidemic.
Topics to be discussed include: the most effective ways states/localities can spend the settlement money; the implications of the Sackler family being shielded from future lawsuits; how potentially gaining access to Purdue documents could help in shaping future policies or preventative measures; and the current status of the opioid epidemic.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health experts will include:
- Joshua M. Sharfstein, MD, vice dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, and professor of the practice in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Health Policy and Management. Previously, he served as the secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and as the principal deputy commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
- Susan G. Sherman, PhD, MPH, a Bloomberg Professor of American Health in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Health, Behavior and Society who focuses on improving the health of marginalized populations, primarily people who use drugs and women who sell sex. In 2017 she founded the SPARC Women’s Center, which provides harm-reduction services, opioid maintenance therapy, health care, legal services, case management, and drop-in services. She also conducts research in support of evidence-based drug policy in Maryland and nationally.
- Sara Whaley, MPH, MSW, MA, a research associate in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Health Policy and Management and program manager of the Bloomberg Overdose Prevention Initiative. She helped craft the Principles for The Use of Funds From The Opioid Litigation and is a member of the working group that coordinates efforts to advise state and local governments in the effective use of litigation funds.
Additional Resources
- Coalition Releases Principles to Guide State and Local Spending of Forthcoming Opioid Litigation Settlement Funds
- UCSF and Johns Hopkins University Launch Digital Trove of Opioid Industry Documents
- Principles for the Use of Funds From the Opioid Litigation
- Substance Use, Drug Overdose, and Opioids
- Combating the Overdose Epidemic
- Fentanyl, Heroin Use Substantially Decline In Patients Receiving Methadone Treatment For Opioid Use Disorder During First Year
- Xylazine: The New Overdose Crisis
- New Documents Show McKinsey’s Role in Opioid Epidemic
- The Role of Purdue Pharma and The Sackler Family in the Opioid Epidemic
- Attorney General Bonta Issues Statement on Federal Appeals Court Decision Allowing $6 Billion Purdue Pharma Settlement to Move Forward
- Attorney General Tong Statement on Appeals Court Decision Enabling Purdue Settlement to Proceed
- Attorney General Josh Stein Announces $102.5 Million Settlement with Opioid Treatment Drugmaker
- Deputy Assistant Attorney General Arun G. Rao Delivers Remarks at the International Bar Association's 9th Annual World Life Sciences Conference
- The Epidemic in a Pandemic: The Opioid Crisis & COVID-19
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