Long before Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy, before the series’ “Dopesick” and “Painkiller” brought the Sackler family and devastation of the opioid crisis into Americans’ living rooms, and before her son died of a drug overdose at the age of 33, Ellen Isaacs was sounding the alarm about the opioid epidemic.
Isaacs herself was prescribed OxyContin, the powerful pain killer manufactured by Purdue and promoted as “non-addictive,” after undergoing surgery in the late 90s. That was around the same time her son, Ryan Wroblewski, got a prescription for the drug after injuring his back in a fall from a bridge.
Isaacs weaned herself off the drug in 2001 and became passionate about raising awareness about the dangers of opioids, all while trying to secure help for her son amid his own addiction.
Wroblewski, though, lost his battle five years ago. Isaacs said she began “vehemently” giving out Narcan, a nasal spray used to treat people experiencing an opioid overdose, and appearing on the news to demonstrate how it works.
During the course of her advocacy, Isaacs has protested outside the Justice Department. She wrote a letter to the late Queen Elizabeth II urging her to strip Theresa Sackler, who was married to Purdue co-owner Mortimer Sackler, of her “dame” title. She rallied in White Plains, New York, where a federal bankruptcy judge oversaw Purdue’s bankruptcy and approved legal protections for the Sackler family.
On Monday, Isaacs is set to return to Washington as part of her efforts to fight the bankruptcy plan and, specifically, the decision to release the Sacklers from civil liability for the opioid epidemic. The matter is under review by the Supreme Court, with oral arguments in the case, known as Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P., set for Monday morning.
