A group made up of more than 500 cities and counties in 26 states and eight Native American tribes across the U.S. has filed a massive lawsuit, accusing members of the Sackler family, who own the patent to OxyContin and operate Purdue Pharma, which manufactures the opioid painkiller, of helping to create “the worst drug crisis in American history.” The lawsuit accuses Sackler family members of knowingly breaking laws in order to enrich themselves with billions of dollars while hundreds of thousands of Americans died. The defendants include Richard, Beverly, David, Ilene, Jonathan, Kathe, Mortimer and Theresa Sackler.

Court documents accuse the eight family members of purposely playing down the dangers of the prescription painkiller, which is more potent than heroin or morphine. They are accused of deceiving doctors and patients, and of directing sales and marketing techniques that drove huge over-prescribing, often to patients who should never have been prescribed the pills.     The family and Purdue deny wrongdoing. They note that OxyContin sales “represent a tiny portion of the opioid market.”

Drug overdoses now kill more than 72,000 people in the U.S. annually, according to government figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 49,000 by opioids.

According to The Suffolk Times, the New York State Attorney General’s office has expanded a lawsuit previously filed in Suffolk County Supreme Court against the makers of opioid narcotics to include members of the Sackler family. The amended lawsuit was announced by Attorney General Letitia James. Ms. James characterized the Sackler family as “masterminds of the crisis, who cared more about profits than they did the impact of the drug on hundreds of addicts, victims and victims’ families.

At a press conference in Manhattan, Ms. James said the amended lawsuit was filed in Suffolk County because it is among the hardest hit in the state, with more than 400 opioid overdose deaths yearly, many on the more rural East End, The Suffolk Times said.