In a newly released video from the Maine Beacon, Senator Susan Collins lied to a constituent about accepting money from the Sackler family, which owns the pharmaceutical giant Purdue Pharma. The Sacklers misled doctors, patients and regulators while pushing highly addictive opioids that fueled the ongoing opioid crisis.

When asked directly about taking campaign money from the Sacklers, Senator Collins told the constituent: “That's not true. That's not true… No I have not. So I think you should check your sources.” But the truth is that Collins accepted $2,300 from former Purdue Pharma executive Jonathan Sackler in 2007 right before the company was forced to pay a fine of more than half a billion dollars for its role in the opioid crisis.

 

Collins also initially denied accepting money from Eli Lilly, who have been under fire for skyrocketing insulin prices, but later admitted that she may have received donations from their corporate PAC. Collins has accepted $6,000 from Eli Lilly’s corporate PAC and another $4,700 from their top lobbyist but told the constituent in the video that she would not be returning contributions from the pharmaceutical giant or donating them to charity.

 

Maine Beacon: Collins lies about Sackler contribution, won’t return Eli Lilly money

 

Mike Tipping

January 16, 2020

 

Key Points:

 

  • In a conversation with a constituent last week, U.S. Senator Susan Collins at first flatly denied she had accepted money from both the Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharmaceuticals, and drug company giant Eli Lilly.

 

  • The Sacklers have admitted to misleadingly pushing the addictive painkiller OxyContin and are currently being sued by Maine and other states over their role in the opioid crisis.

 

  • Eli Lilly has dramatically hiked the price of insulin and faces a class action lawsuit for their alleged price gouging.

 

  • Collins has, in fact, received contributions from both sources.

 

  • Jonathan Sackler, former vice president and son of the former head of Purdue Pharmaceuticals, gave Collins $2,300 in 2007, just two months before Purdue agreed to pay $600 million in fines for misleading regulators, doctors, and patients about the addictive nature of OxyContin, its version of the painkiller oxycodone.

 

  • Eli Lilly’s PAC has given Collins at least $5,000 and their lobbyist, Leigh Ann Pusey, gave the maximum donation of $2,700 to Collins in 2018. She also gave at least $2,000 to Collins’ political action committee, “Dirigo PAC.”

 

  • Halsted, who has family members who have struggled with addiction and diabetes, said she was “dumbfounded” by Collins’ “flat-out denial of facts.”

 

  • In Maine, more than 2,000 people have died of drug overdoses since 2007. Last June, Maine joined a lawsuit with 40 other states against Purdue and members of the Sackler family, including Jonathan Sackler, alleging that they deceptively marketed opioid drugs, fostering the epidemic.

 

  • In 2018, Collins, a member of the Senate Health Committee, voted against an amendment to the Opioid Crisis Response Act that would have imposed retroactive fines on companies and executives that illegally marketed or distributed opioids and established penalties for future illegal activity.

 

  • Recognition of her vulnerability in these areas may be why Collins chose to lie about taking these specific pharmaceutical contributions, but if voters make the connection between the money she has received and her actions in Congress, her refusal to acknowledge and return them may end up costing her far more than the thousands of dollars she has received.

 

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