Dietrich Knauth
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Purdue Pharma said on Friday it needed more time to build support for a new $7.4 billion settlement that could complete the company’s years-long effort to settle thousands of lawsuits over the addiction painkiller OxyContin.
The company still needs to work out the remaining details and seek a buyout from states, local governments and other creditors who have sued the company and owners the Sackler family over their role in the deadly opioid epidemic in the US.
Purdue attorney Benjamin Kaminetsky said at a court hearing in White Plains, New York, that the company is “almost there” on the deal announced Thursday by several state attorneys general and will propose a formal bankruptcy plan before the end of February.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane, who is overseeing Purdue’s Chapter 11 filing, said the company is making concrete progress toward the deal and granted its request to stay all opioid lawsuits against the Sacklers until at least the end of February.
The bankruptcy case has halted litigation against the Sacklers and Purdue since the company entered Chapter 11 in 2019, and Lane has granted several short-term extensions to the litigation cease-fire in recent months.
“We’ve been doing this for a while and hopefully we’re getting closer to the end,” Lane said Friday.
Purdue filed for bankruptcy in 2019 in the face of thousands of lawsuits accusing it and members of the Sackler family of fueling the epidemic by falsely marketing OxyContin. Drugmakers, distributors, pharmacy operators and others have collectively agreed to pay about $50 billion to settle similar lawsuits and investigations related to the U.S. opioid crisis.
The new deal, which is supported by 15 states, offers the company a new chance to close the long-running bankruptcy after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its previous opioid settlement. But he faces a long and uncertain road before the settlement is approved and funds begin to flow to states, communities and individuals damaged by the crisis.
The deal has not yet been reviewed by most of Purdue’s creditors, including states, local governments and individuals who have legal claims against the Sacklers.
Key terms of the settlement will be announced next week, said David Nachman, an attorney representing New York state. States that negotiated the deal, including New York, California, Texas and West Virginia, are sending it to other states to encourage them to support the deal.
