(CNN) Members of the Sackler family withdrew more than $10 billion from Purdue Pharma and put the money in family trusts and holding companies as pressure intensified over the nation's opioid epidemic, according to court documents. An audit shows that from 2008 through late 2018, the family withdrew more than eight times as much money from Purdue as the previous 13 years. The audit, commissioned by Purdue, was filed in bankruptcy court Monday evening. It showed that from 1995 through 2007, the Sacklers received $1.3 billion from Purdue; but from 2008 through 2018, those payments amounted to $10.7 billion. The larger Sackler family withdrawals came after Purdue's 2007 plea deal with the Justice Department to pay a $600 million penalty on a felony charge of misleading and defrauding physicians and consumers over the prescription opioid OxyContin.

Source: CNN December 17, 2019 09:40 UTC