Purdue Pharma, the pharmaceutical company that raked in billions from the time-released opioid OxyContin, has filed for bankruptcy protection. The filing comes as part of a tentative settlement with many of the state and local governments suing the company. The deal could be worth as much as $12 billion. Purdue Pharma is named in 2,600 lawsuits from governments and other entities for aggressively marketing OxyContin, which it introduced in 1996 as a painkiller with a low risk of addiction, despite being aware that was false. Since then, overdoses and addiction have skyrocketed in the United States. The Associated Press reports the company is likely to face more legal battles from states that did not agree to the proposed settlement. The family that owns the company, the Sacklers, will face litigation of their own.
