Dietrich North
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Purdue Pharma asked a U.S. bankruptcy judge on Tuesday to freeze lawsuits against its owners, members of the wealthy Sackler family, for 60 days, a day since a landmark Supreme Court ruling overturned its bankruptcy. First court appearance since settlement.
Purdue attorney Marshall Huebner said during a court hearing in White Plains, New York, that the ceasefire in litigation would enable “high-speed, high-stakes mediation” as Purdue seeks to renegotiate a comprehensive settlement Lawsuit against Sackler family and company, alleging its painkiller OxyContin fueled U.S. opioid addiction crisis
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 27 that Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement does not protect the Sackler family because they themselves did not file for bankruptcy because of their role in the deadly opioid epidemic in the United States. .
The ruling puts Purdue back in the drawing board nearly five years after bankruptcy and jeopardizes billions of dollars the company and the Sackler family have pledged to pay to address the harms of the U.S. opioid epidemic.
Purdue’s bankruptcy has prevented the Stamford, Connecticut-based drugmaker from filing opioid lawsuits since 2019, and Purdue extended that legal protection to the Sackler family.
Huebner told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane that a “modest” 60-day negotiating period to protect the Sackler family would give Purdue the best chance to negotiate a new bankruptcy settlement and “provide the best possible Keep previous transactions.
Huebner said Purdue intends to move quickly to try to reach a deal to direct funds toward preventing opioid overdoses and treating addiction.
“Every day of delay has a tragic cost,” Huebner said.
Purdue also required Lane to appoint two mediators to assist in settlement negotiations.
Proposed mediators include retired bankruptcy judge Shelley Chapman and mediator Eric Green, who brokered the Sackler family’s agreement to pay up to $6 billion in an opioid settlement litigation.
If mediation fails, Purdue said a court-appointed committee representing its creditors should be allowed to sue the Sacklers, alleging they embezzled more than $11 billion from the company and that their actions made Purdue liable for other lawsuits .
The Sacklers said the lawsuit filed by the creditors was counterproductive and based on “factual errors.”
State and local governments and individual plaintiffs have filed lawsuits against Purdue University and members of the Sackler family, accusing them of fueling the opioid epidemic through deceptive marketing of painkillers. The company pleaded guilty to misbranding and fraud charges related to the marketing of OxyContin in 2007 and 2020.
Purdue and members of the Sackler family expressed optimism that a new settlement could be reached following the Supreme Court ruling. The previous agreement was supported by attorneys general from all 50 states, local governments and the vast majority of opioid victims who voted.
Members of the Sackler family have denied wrongdoing but expressed regret that OxyContin “accidentally became part of the opioid crisis.”
