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A Judge Set to Rule on Purdue Pharma’s Opioid Settlement

NYC: Rally Against Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Ruling

Members of P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now), Truth Pharm, and a coalition of survivors and advocacy groups working in response to the overdose crisis held a demonstration on August 9, 2021 outside of The United States Bankruptcy Court in White Plains to call out the United States justice system for allowing the billionaire Sackler Family to walk away unscathed after igniting the worst public health crisis in the history of this nation. (Photo by Erik McGregor/Sipa USA)

Stamford, CT (77WABC/AP)-In a ruling that could reach upwards of $10 billion dollars, a U.S. bankruptcy judge is expected to rule today on a plan for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to settle thousands of lawsuits brought by state and local governments and others over its role in the nation’s opioids crisis.

The deal is expected to involve cash coming from members of the Sackler family who own the company. Under the deal, the Sackler’s would give up ownership of the company and get protection from lawsuits over opioids. Purdue would be remade into a new company with profits being used to pay some victims and fund drug treatment, education and other measures to fight the opioid epidemic.

According to the National Institute on Drug abuse, in 2019, nearly 50,000 people in the United States died from opioid-involved overdoses. The epidemic is described as the misuse of and addiction to opioids—including prescription and pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.