OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma agrees to shell up to $6BN to settle opioid lawsuits

Purdue Pharma, makers of OxyContin, have agreed to pay up to $6 billion in settlement of thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids as the company is close to reaching a new deal with state attorneys. As per reports, the Sackler Family, owners of Purdue Pharma, are ready to contribute between $5.5 billion and $6 billion, which is increased from the earlier $4.3 billion mentioned in the original bankruptcy statement. The detailed offer was filed on Friday at the US bankruptcy court by a federal meditator in the case to allow 16 days buffer time until the end of the month to broker a new settlement.

According to the Associated Press, legal protection for the members of the Sackler Family expired on February 1, opening floodgates for new or resumed claims that individuals in the billionaire family bore personal responsibility for an opioid crisis. This has been linked to the deaths of over 5,00,000 Americans in the past two decades. The exact amount of the new settlement will depend on how much Sackler's would make from selling its international drug. The additional amount will be used to fight the aforementioned crisis. In exchange, members of the family would be shielded from current and future opioid-related lawsuits.

The said deal was mentioned in the original lawsuit but was opposed by objecting states, who appealed to the court, finally succeeding. Thus, leading to current negotiations. The objecting states argued that the $4.5 billion was not enough against the massive revenue the family earned from selling OxyContin. Meanwhile, opioid victims' lawyers have questioned the course of the additional money.

“The government’s pot will continue to get larger as additional settlement negotiations may continue, yet there’s no increase for direct payments to families and survivors,” Ryan Hampton, an advocate for people with opioid use disorder said, as quoted by The Guardian. “It’s dead wrong and unjust,” he added.

Purdue Pharma close to drawing new deal

The attorney general for eight holdout states and the District of Columbia is nearing a new settlement with the drug maker, mediators told, as reported by AP. US bankruptcy court judge Shelly Chapman said that any new deal would be contingent on having all holdout states agree to it, adding that a "supermajority" has already nodded to it. Meanwhile, in a statement, the Sackler's said that they "remained focused on achieving our goal of providing urgently needed funds to American people for opioids crisis abatement."

(Image: AP/shutterstock)