Jonathan Sackler, a co-owner of the company which produces prescription painkiller OxyContin, has died.
Mr Sackler, one of the owners of Purdue Pharma, died on June 30, according to a court filing. The cause of death was cancer.
The 65-year-old was the son of Raymond Sackler, one the brothers who bought drug company Purdue Frederick in 1952, and served as an executive and board member for the company that was later renamed Purdue Pharma.
Like other members of the Sackler family, he has stepped down from the board of the company in recent years, though family members retain ownership.
The company is seeking bankruptcy protection as part of an effort to settle nearly 3,000 lawsuits brought against it by state and local governments which blame the company for sparking the opioid crisis that has killed more than 400,000 Americans since 2000.
Hundreds of the lawsuits also name family members.
The company's settlement plan calls for the family, which has been listed among America's wealthiest, to pay at least $3 billion and give up ownership of Purdue.
Opioids are a type of powerful painkiller used to treat a range of pains, including post-surgery, acute and cancer pains.
They include oxycodone, also known as OxyContin, as well as fentanyl, morphine, methadone, codeine and diamorphine, also known as heroin.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
