A federal bankruptcy court judge on Friday said he would approve OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma’s latest deal to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids that includes some money for thousands of victims of the epidemic.
The deal overseen by US bankruptcy judge Sean Lane would require some of the multibillionaire members of the semi-reclusive Sackler family who own the company to contribute up to $7bn and give up ownership of the Connecticut-based firm.
The new agreement replaces one the US supreme court rejected last year, finding it would have improperly protected members of the family against future lawsuits. The judge said he would explain his decision in a hearing on Tuesday.
How is this handled by a bankruptcy court and not a criminal court? Thousands of people were prescribed addictive drugs specifically as non-addictive.
When I lived in an area with high opiate addiction rates, I regularly saw bumper stickers which read “shoot your local drug dealer.” They made me absolutely livid. The dealer is only doing anything because the Sacklers got them addicted