Connecticut Attorney General William Tong in his Hartford office in February. Photo: Michael Marciano/ALM

A new unredacted complaint filed Monday by Connecticut's attorney general against Purdue Pharma companies include emails that allegedly show the the corporation's former chairman and president blaming opioid users for the pharmaceutical drug crisis that has swept the country.

Attorney General William Tong's release Tuesday purportedly reveals previously undisclosed “shocking and offensive emails” from Purdue's former chief, Richard Sackler.

Tong claims the emails from 2001 show “callous disregard” for millions of addicts, as Sackler and his family, which owns Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, allegedly sought “to avoid personal liability through hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent transfers.” Tong also alleged Sackler's “outrageous comments show an utter disregard for human life.”

Purdue Pharma makes painkiller OxyContin and other drugs that have emerged at the center of a national drug overdose crisis. It doesn't dispute the comments in the emails were from an exchange between Sackler and an acquaintance about 18 years ago. But it said in a statement that the “insensitive language in emails doesn't reflect what Dr. Sackler or Purdue actually did about the emerging problem of opioid abuse.”

“Dr. Sackler has apologized for using insensitive language that doesn't reflect what he actually did. These emails were written two decades ago following news reports about criminal activity involving prescription opioids, such as drug store robberies,” the company statement continues. “Dr. Sackler was expressing his worry that this news coverage would stigmatize an essential FDA-approved medication that doctors feel is critical for treating their patients in pain. The same concern from 20 years ago exists today. The growing abuse of illicit fentanyl and heroin smuggled from China is now interfering with patient access to important legal medication.”

In one email, the acquaintance tells Sackler, “Abusers die. Well that is the choice they made. I doubt a single one didn't know of the risks.”

In response, Sackler says: “Abusers aren't victims; they are the victimizers.”

In the second email with the same acquaintance, Sackler responds to comments the acquaintance made about people unfairly blaming drug manufacturers for the opioid crisis. “Unfortunately, when I'm ambushed by 60 Minutes, I can't easily get this concept across,” Sackler wrote. “Calling drug addicts 'scum of the earth' will guarantee that I become the poster child for liberals who want to do just want (sic) to distribute the blame to someone else, as you say.”

Those comments, Tong said in a press release Tuesday “are far more than a momentary lapse in judgment between friends.”

“They encapsulate the depraved indifference to human suffering that infected Purdue's entire business model,” he said. “Purdue and defendant members of the Sackler family knew people were dying, but they continued to push their opioids in blind pursuit of profit. Purdue and the Sacklers must be held accountable.”

According to Tong's office, parts of the complaint were initially redacted pursuant to an order that a federal judge issued requiring the information be kept confidential unless the producing party agrees the information can be disclosed. Connecticut has since obtained an agreement to release communications that were previously redacted.

Former Attorney General George Jepsen filed the initial lawsuit in December 2018, alleging the company misled doctors and others on the addictiveness of opioids. The initial complaint seeks damages, civil penalties, restitution and permanent injunctive relief. Tong expanded the action, amending the lawsuit to add a fifth count: fraudulent transfer.

The suit, which names 21 individuals and corporate entities, alleges that several Sackler-controlled companies fraudulently transferred hundreds of millions of dollars from Purdue Pharma to the Sacklers to evade liability and accountability related to the opioid epidemic.

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