A federal bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday formally cleared the maker of OxyContin. Purdue Pharma Plan settle thousands of lawsuits alleging opioid harm.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane on Tuesday made the case for approving the plan, which would require members of the Sackler family who own the company to contribute up to $7 billion over 15 years. Most of the money will go to government organizations to combat the opioid crisis, which has caused 900,000 deaths in the United States since 1999.
Some of the money will be distributed next year to people prescribed OxyContin and their survivors.
“My heart goes out to all those who have experienced such pain,” Lane said.
The new agreement replaces one that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected last year, finding it would have inadequately protected family members from future lawsuits. Under the current agreement, organizations that do not agree to payments can still sue family members.
The deal, which a judge said last week, is one of the largest in a series of opioid settlements brought by state and local authorities against drug manufacturers, wholesalers And pharmacies this amounted to about $50 billion.
Members of the Sackler family agreed to pay up to $7 billion over 15 years, providing most of the cash needed for the settlement.
Funds distributed to states, localities and Native Americans will be used primarily to address the opioid crisis, as was the case in other opioid settlements.
About $850 million of that amount will go to individual victims, including children born with opioid withdrawal syndrome.
People with addictions and survivors must prove they were prescribed OxyContin to participate. Those who do so could receive payments of about $8,000 or about $16,000, depending on how long they received the drug and how many other people are eligible. Money for individual victims will be distributed next year.
Sackler family members agree to give up ownership of Purdue.
This won't be a major change for them, as no family member has served on Purdue's board or received money from the company since 2018. The plan calls for Purdue to be replaced by a new company, Knoa Pharma, which would be controlled by a state-appointed board of directors dedicated to benefiting society.
Members of the Sackler family also agree not to put their name on institutions in exchange for donations—something they have done frequently in the past, although many institutions cut ties with them.
The company also agreed to release a trove of internal documents that could shed further light on how the company promotes and controls opioids.
One feature that will not be repeated under this new deal that was in the previous one: forcing members of the Sackler family to hear directly from people affected by OxyContin.
Purdue filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 after facing thousands of opioid-related lawsuits from state, local governments and others.
Two years later, a judge approved the settlement. But The US Supreme Court later rejected this plan because it gave Sackler family members protection from opioid lawsuits even though they did not personally file for bankruptcy.
The latest plan allows those who don't agree to the deal to file lawsuits against members of the Sackler family. This change was key to the approval of the new version after the Supreme Court decision.
Few parties objected to the settlement this time, although some people who represented themselves and were addicted to opioids – or had loved ones who were – expressed concerns during the three-day confirmation hearing last week.
During a virtual hearing Tuesday, one of those individuals told Lane she plans to appeal.
