Geoff Mulvihill of AP’s State Government Team spearheaded all-formats coverage of the landmark opioid bankruptcy settlement involving OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma while keeping victims’ voices at the forefront.
Mulvihill has been indispensable as the AP’s lead writer on dozens of opioid cases that have played out around the U.S. in recent years. None has been bigger or more widely watched than the bankruptcy of Purdue, which has become a symbol of corporate culpability for an epidemic that has killed half a million Americans in the last 20 years.
In the days leading up to the expected settlement, Mulvihill wrote preparedness, contacted all the key parties to understand what the federal judge might do, and lined up numerous victims and opioid treatment advocates for comment. He and others coordinated with photo and video journalists to ensure strong visuals on the day of the settlement and to accompany a victim-focused story for the next news cycle.
When the Purdue settlement decision was imminent, Mulvihill immediately contacted the filing team, prompting the team to alter the prepared alert and story lead to more accurately reflect what the judge was deciding. He then co-reported the follow-up story that focused on how opioid victims and their families were reacting to the end of the legal case against Purdue. He also turned around a weekend story about the issue that will be central to the coming appeals process — the controversial legal immunity given to Purdue’s owners, the Sackler family.
Mulvihill’s work continually kept AP out front on a hotly competitive story that was watched closely by millions across the U.S. who have been affected by the crisis.
An image of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain is installed by protesters in front of Purdue Pharma’s headquarters in Stamford, Conn., Sept. 1, 2021. The judge gave conditional approval to a plan for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to settle lawsuits brought by governments and others over its role in the opioid crisis.
AP Photo / Mark Lennihan
Photographer and activist Nan Goldin speaks during a protest in front of the courthouse where the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy was taking place in White Plains, N.Y., Aug. 9, 2021. While most states and others with claims have signed on to a bankruptcy settlement plan, victims’ advocates are still angry that Sackler family members would receive protection from lawsuits under the deal.
AP Photo / Seth Wenig
Jayde Newton helps to set up cardboard gravestones with the names of victims of opioid abuse outside the courthouse where the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy was taking place in White Plains, N.Y., Aug. 9, 2021.
AP Photo / Seth Wenig