Members of the Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma LP are nearing an agreement to boost their more than $4 billion offer to resolve sprawling opioid litigation after negotiating with states that had objected to terms of the OxyContin maker’s bankruptcy reorganization, according to a court filing.
A U.S. judge on January 7 allowed Purdue Pharma to immediately challenge her rejection of legal protections for Sackler family members who own the OxyContin maker, and which were a major component of its bankruptcy reorganization plan.
As 2022 unfolds, pharmaceutical companies were quick to implement price increases on hundreds of prescription medications. According to research company 46brooklyn, drug manufacturers raised prices on 460 different medicines in the first days of January.
Members of the Sackler family on December 6 said billions of dollars they collected from Purdue Pharma before the company filed for Chapter 11 was the result of extra cash, not part of a “secret plan” to abuse the bankruptcy system.
Although the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the OxyContin maker’s reorganization plan that freed the Sacklers from greater financial accountability and shielded them from additional lawsuits, the Department of Justice moved to block the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy deal.
A U.S. judge said on Sept. 1 he would approve OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP’s bankruptcy reorganization plan, clearing a path to resolve thousands of opioid lawsuits and shielding the company’s wealthy Sackler family owners from future opioid litigation.
Purdue Pharma LP said on Tuesday that creditors voted in favor of the company’s reorganization plan that would provide billions of dollars to the governments that sued the OxyContin maker for its role in the U.S. opioid crisis.
Fifteen more states reached an agreement with Purdue Pharma LP and members of its wealthy Sackler family owners that moved the OxyContin maker a step closer to resolving widespread opioid litigation and exiting bankruptcy protection.
Massachusetts sued a unit of French advertising company Publicis Groupe SA on May 6, accusing it of fueling the U.S. opioid crisis by using unfair and deceptive marketing to help drugmaker Purdue Pharma sell more OxyContin.
Purdue Pharma LP filed a bankruptcy plan on March 15 that would resolve thousands of opioid lawsuits by restructuring the OxyContin maker into an entity that would steer profits to plaintiffs and require the company’s Sackler family owners to contribute nearly $4.3 billion to the settlement.
