In the recent time, OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma registered for bankruptcy protection, yielding to pressure from over 2,600 lawsuits claiming the company assisted in fueling the fatal opioid epidemic across the U.S. Apparently, Purdue’s board met to sanction the long-anticipated bankruptcy filing, which the firm is pursuing to reform under terms of a bid to settle the extensive litigation. Purdue—which registered for Chapter 11 defense in a centralized bankruptcy court in New York—attained an uncertain contract to determine lawsuits with 24 states and 5 US territories, plus lead lawyers for over 2,000 cities and other plaintiffs, the company stated.
Almost two dozen states remained opposed or uncommitted to the planned settlement, setting the period for contentious lawful battles over who carries liability for a public health disaster that has taken the lives of approximately 400,000 people amid 1999–2017, as per to the latest U.S. data. Thousands of counties and cities, along with every state, have litigated Purdue and, in several cases, it’s managing Sackler family. The lawsuits—trying to get billions of dollars in damages—claimed the company and family forcefully marketed prescription painkillers whilst misleading patients and doctors about their addiction and overdose perils.
On a related note, Purdue Pharma owners “declined to move” on the demand they give up billions to resolve opioid cases. The Sackler family that controls Purdue Pharma has snubbed to shift on demands that they give up $4.5 Billion of their individual wealth to attain a resolution on opioid claims in opposition to the company, as reported by NPR. Conciliations for a national agreement for supposedly inciting the opioid outbreak have stopped due to the Sackler family’s reaction and the company is anticipated to file for bankruptcy “immediately,” two states attorneys general stated.