Opioid Litigation Watch: Purdue Pharma

Purdue Pharmaceutical—maker of the popular painkiller OxyContin—filed for bankruptcy in 2019 after an onslaught of lawsuits accused the company of contributing to the nation’s opioid crisis.  Because of its bankruptcy, these lawsuits were stayed (i.e., paused) for six months.  During this time, Purdue proposed a global settlement that “could be worth more than $10 billion over time, including the value of drugs it is producing and a contribution of at least $3 billion in cash from members of the Sackler family that owns the company.”  This settlement, however, was not sufficient for many of Purdue’s opponents.  Letitia James, New York’s Attorney General, argued that it “cheats Americans out of billions of dollars, allows the Sacklers to evade responsibility, and lets this family continue peddling their drugs to the world.”  Given this opposition, it is therefore likely that many of the lawsuits against Purdue will resume when the six-month litigation stay ends this month.