OxyContin developer Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, have reportedly offered to settle the over 2,000 lawsuits against them for $10 billion to $12 billion. According to NBC News, the potential deal was proposed during a meeting in Cleveland last week with Purdue’s lawyers, at least 10 state attorneys general, and other plaintiffs’ lawyers. The deal presented at the meeting would require Purdue to declare bankruptcy and form a for-profit “public benefit trust” that would exist for at least 10 years. The Sackler family also agreed to give up ownership of Purdue Pharma and pay at least $3 billion. The family said it would pay the $3 billion by selling Mundipharma, another global pharmaceutical company they own. If the plaintiffs don’t take the offered settlement, the company said it would declare bankruptcy.
“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 told NBC News in a statement. A Sackler family representative did not respond to a request for comment. The lawsuits—brought by states, cities, and counties—claim Purdue practiced deceptive sales tactics and is to blame for at least a part of the U.S. opioid crisis. The CDC says the crisis has caused the deaths of over 400,000 people between 1999 to 2017.
Read it at NBC News
