The decision by a federal bankruptcy judge grants members of the family who own Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, sweeping protection from any liability for the opioid crisis.
In the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy trial now underway, scrutiny has focused on the Sacklers’ demand for immunity from opioid lawsuits that would extend to a vast network of individuals and businesses.
By NPR The Purdue Pharma bankruptcy process has focused on financial compensation to creditors, but court records include heartrending personal letters from families ravaged by Oxycontin.
Purdue sought bankruptcy protection in 2019 as a way to settle about 3,000 lawsuits it faced from state and local governments and other entities over its marketing of the prescription painkiller.
The new settlement terms call for Purdue to make tens of millions of internal documents public, a step several attorneys general had demanded as a way to hold the company accountable.
Despite human toll, pharma CEOs continue to cash in.
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has a $10 billion plan to transform into a new company dedicated to fighting the opioid crisis, but its not a done deal yet.
The drugmaker formally admitted its role in the opioid epidemic, which included paying doctors to encourage them to write more prescriptions for its painkillers.
Federal officials have long maintained Purdue’s actions helped fuel a prescription opioid epidemic that has killed more than 232,000 Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
