Purdue starts ads on filing of opioid claims

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma launched an ad campaign Monday to tell people harmed by the powerful prescription opioid where they can file claims against the company.

The $23.8-million campaign is part of Purdue’s bankruptcy proceedings as it tries to resolve close to 3,000 lawsuits over its role in the opioid crisis.

Notifying people who may have claims against a company is a standard part of a bankruptcy case. But Purdue’s efforts — worked out with input from a committee of creditors and other interested parties and approved by a bankruptcy judge in White Plains, N.Y. — are unusually expansive.

The Stamford, Conn.based company has proposed a settlement that could be worth more than $10 billion over time, including the value of drugs it is producing and a contribution of at least $3 billion in cash from the Sackler family, which owns the company.

About half the states oppose that deal, saying it doesn’t do enough to hold the company or family responsible for an opioid crisis that has been linked to more than 430,000 deaths in the U.S. over the last 20 years.

Online ads starting Monday direct people to a website where claims can be made. Other versions are to appear later in magazines, newspapers, TV and radio, billboards and movie theaters to let people know they have until the end of June to file claims. Part of the plan also calls for encouraging news coverage of the claim applications.

Lawsuits against the company have been filed mostly by government entities. But individuals harmed by the company can also make claims through the bankruptcy process.

It has not yet been decided how much of a settlement may be available to private parties. For instance, it’s still subject to negotiations on whether people who used OxyContin illicitly would be entitled to the same kind of benefits as those who were prescribed the powerful drug and became addicted.

The heart of lawsuits against Purdue is that the company promoted its drugs to doctors, especially in misleading ways that downplayed risks and overstated benefits. Purdue stopped marketing OxyContin about two years ago.