his mother says he'd still be alive except for purdue pharma, the company that makes oxycontin. >> they are ruthless people who are just out for money at the expense of our children. >> reporter: merrill was one of thousands in massachusetts alone who's lived were destroyed by opoid abuse. his mother and now the state of massachusetts lays much of the blame at the feet of purdue pharma for practices they say not only deceptively marketed the drug but pursued a strategy of selling oxycontin and the treatment for a dictiddiction t. calling the plan project tango. >> it's an outrage. but they're going to come down. the whole empire is going to fall. it's just a matter of time. >> reporter: the empire is that of the sacklers, one of the country's wealthiest families. known for funding musicians and