In Potential Opioids Lawsuits Settlement, Purdue Pharma Offers $10B-$12B And For Sackler Family To Cede Control Of Company
According to reports on settlement talks, the bulk of the funds would come from restructuring Purdue Pharma under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing that would transform it from a private company into a “public beneficiary trust.” That would allow the profits from all drug sales, including the opioid painkiller OxyContin, to go to the plaintiffs of a nationwide consolidated lawsuit over the alleged role drugmakers played in the epidemic. The company would also give its addiction treatment drugs to the public without cost.
NBC News:
Purdue Pharma Offers $10-12 Billion To Settle Opioid Claims
The maker of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, and its owners, the Sackler family, are offering to settle more than 2,000 lawsuits against the company for $10 billion to $12 billion. The potential deal was part of confidential conversations and discussed by Purdue's lawyers at a meeting in Cleveland last Tuesday, Aug. 20, according to two people familiar with the mediation. Brought by states, cities and counties, the lawsuits — some of which have been combined into one massive case — allege the company and the Sackler family are responsible for starting and sustaining the opioid crisis. (Strickler, 8/27)
The New York Times:
Sacklers Would Give Up Ownership Of Purdue Pharma Under Settlement Proposal
The Sackler family would give up ownership of Purdue Pharma, the company blamed for much of the opioid epidemic, and pay $3 billion of their own money under terms of a settlement proposal to resolve thousands of federal and state lawsuits, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The discussions have been going on for months as Purdue and the Sacklers have sought to prevent any new lawsuits against individual members of the family as well as their company. (Hoffman, 8/27)
Reuters:
Purdue Pharma In Discussion On $10 Billion-$12 Billion Offer To Settle Opioid Lawsuits: Sources
The plan under discussion envisions Purdue restructuring into a for-profit "public benefit trust" that would last for at least a decade, one of the people familiar with the matter said. Purdue would contribute between $7 billion and $8 billion to the trust, with some of the money coming from the sales of its drugs, including those that combat opioid overdoses, the person said. Additional payments would come from the company's cash and insurance policies, the person said. Three experts would be approved by a bankruptcy judge as trustees who would select board members to run the trust, this person said. (Spector and DiNapoli, 8/28)
USA Today:
OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Reportedly Offering Opioid Settlement Up To $12B
“While Purdue Pharma is prepared to defend itself vigorously in the opioid litigation, the company has made clear that it sees little good coming from years of wasteful litigation and appeals," the company said Tuesday in a statement. "The people and communities affected by the opioid crisis need help now. Purdue believes a constructive global resolution is the best path forward, and the company is actively working with the state attorneys general and other plaintiffs to achieve this outcome.” (Bomey, 8/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
Purdue Pharma In Talks To Resolve Opioid Cases Through Bankruptcy
The company and plaintiffs’ lawyers face a Friday deadline to give an update on the talks to U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland, who is overseeing the bulk of the opioid lawsuits and has been a strong proponent of settling the cases. State attorneys general, whose separate lawsuits aren’t in front of Judge Polster, also are involved in the discussions. (Randazzo and Hopkins, 8/27)
The Associated Press:
OxyContin Maker, Government Attorneys In Settlement Talks
Paul Farrell Jr., a lead plaintiffs’ lawyer representing local governments, said all sides remain under a gag order: “All we can confirm is that we are in active settlement discussions with Purdue.”Attorneys general representing several states also confirmed the accelerated negotiations. Ohio Attorney General David Yost is “actively engaged in conversations with Purdue,” said spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle, declining further comment. (Welsh-Huggins, 8/28)
The Washington Post:
OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma, Sackler Family, Offer Up To $12B To Settle Opioid Suits
Purdue settled separately with Oklahoma for $270 million in March. In May, a North Dakota judge threw out that state’s lawsuit against the company. Purdue is widely blamed for sparking the prescription opioid crisis in the United States with the introduction of OxyContin in 1996, followed by an aggressive marketing effort that persuaded doctors to prescribe it more widely and at higher doses. (Bernstein and Higham, 8/27)
Bloomberg:
Sacklers Said To Back $11.5 Billion Purdue Opioid Settlement
Some attorneys general seem determined to take a tough line. “From the day we filed our complaint, I and other attorneys general from around the country said the Sackler family needs to be held accountable for their actions hooking this country on OxyContin,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in an emailed statement. “This family started a national fire, and an arsonist should never give advice on fire prevention.” (Feeley and Griffin, 8/27)
ProPublica:
Watch Richard Sackler Deny His Family’s Role In The Opioid Crisis
Four years ago this week, Dr. Richard Sackler sat in a conference room at a law office in a Louisville, Kentucky, office park. Lawyers for the Kentucky attorney general’s office were taking his deposition as part of the state’s lawsuit alleging that the family business, Purdue Pharma, illegally marketed the opioid painkiller OxyContin by understating its addictive properties. Sackler, who has been at various times Purdue’s president and co-chairman of its board, testified for more than eight hours. (Armstrong, 8/27)
