Drugmaker offers $10B plan to exit bankruptcy

Attorneys general from 23 states, DC say Purdue Pharma proposal falls short

Purdue Pharma, which helped revolutionize the prescription painkiller business with its drug OxyContin, is proposing a $10 billion plan to emerge from bankruptcy that calls for it to be transformed into a different kind of company funneling profits into the fight against the nation’s opioid crisis.

Those efforts would include a significant boost — more than $4 billion — from members of the Sackler family who own the Connecticut-based pharmaceutical giant.

The plan, filed late Monday in U.S Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York, after months of negotiations, marks the company’s formal offer to settle more than 2,900 lawsuits from state and local governments, Native

American tribes, hospitals and other entities.

“Purdue has delivered a historic plan that can have a profoundly positive impact on public health by directing critically-needed resources to communities and individuals nationwide who have been affected by the opioid crisis,” Steve Miller, chairman of Purdue’s board of directors, said in a statement.

Most of the parties in the case are on board with the plan.

But attorneys general representing 23 states and the District of Columbia issued a statement saying the offer “falls short of the accountability that families and survivors deserve.” They want more money from the Sackler family members and for Purdue to wind down in a way that “does not excessively entangle it with states.”

“The Sacklers became billionaires by causing a national tragedy. Now they’re trying to get away with it,” Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement. “We’re going to keep fighting for the accountability that families all across this country deserve.”

Most of Purdue’s plan is similar to what the company proposed 18 months ago when it first sought bankruptcy protection, a move that halted lawsuits against both the company and Sackler family members, who would continue to be insulated from legal claims under the plan.

In its proposal, the company said the Sackler family members would contribute nearly $4.3 billion over a decade, the company would kick in $500 million upfront, and its sales would generate another $1 billion through the end of 2024, when the plan is to sell or otherwise transform the company again. It says additional money would come from insurance claims.

Purdue said it will also provide overdose antidotes and anti-addiction drugs that would have a value of more than $4 billion.

Purdue began selling OxyContin 25 years ago, encouraging doctors to drop long-held reservations about opioids and focus more on easing the pain of patients. Court documents show company officials continued to push to maintain sales even as it became clear the drug was being abused.

More than 470,000 deaths in the U.S. since 2000 have been linked to opioids, including both prescription drugs and illegal ones such as heroin and fentanyl. The U.S. topped 50,000 opioid-related overdose deaths for the first time in 2019.