Connecticut backs NAACP’s plan to join Purdue talks

STAMFORD — The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s request to join the settlement talks in OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy case has garnered resounding support — with dozens of states including Connecticut endorsing the plan.

Filed in the past week in federal court in White Plains, N.Y., the states’ declarations of support come ahead of a hearing Wednesday on the proposal. The NAACP argues that it needs a seat at the table to ensure Black Americans receive a fair allocation of any settlement funds that are distributed to tackle the opioid crisis.

“It is imperative that Black Americans be participants, advocates, and beneficiaries in this bankruptcy,” a 24-state group that includes Connecticut said in its statement. “During the bankruptcy, the nonconsenting states have committed that, as the foundation for an acceptable plan of reorganization, 100 percent of their net recoveries should be dedicated to serving the public by abating the opioid crisis. Decisions in this case should consider the perspectives and needs of the people we serve.”

Those two-dozen states — which also include New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey — describe themselves as “non-consenting” because they have not accepted Purdue’s settlement offer, which the company values at more than $10 billion.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has argued that Purdue’s owners — members of the Sackler family, whose net worth was estimated at $13 billion by Forbes in 2016 — can afford to contribute much more.

An Ad Hoc Committee and Multistate Governmental Entities Group also filed statements of support.

The Ad Hoc Committee’s members include a group of states such as Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan and Texas that have accepted Purdue’s proposed settlement terms. The Multistate Governmental Entities Group represents 1,300 entities, including cities, counties, other governmental groups, tribal nations, hospital districts, independent school districts, medical groups and funds across 37 states and territories

“The MSGE Group welcomes the addition of the NAACP’s voice to the mediation process,” the group said in its statement. “Indeed, the NAACP’s long and powerful history of advocacy for Americans who may otherwise be underserved in important areas at issue in this bankruptcy will help to ensure that the perspectives and needs of the people served by the MSGE Group are adequately considered in this bankruptcy.”

Comprising the country’s oldest and largest grassroots civil-rights organization, the NAACP said in its motion filed earlier this month that Black communities have been overlooked in the response to the opioid epidemic, with attention focusing on whites and suburban and rural areas. They said they also want to end a history of unfair treatment of people of color in bankruptcy cases.

Through the bankruptcy proceedings, Purdue is trying to resolve approximately 3,000 lawsuits filed in recent years by local and state governments that allege the company fueled the opioid crisis with deceptive marketing of its drugs including OxyContin.

Purdue denies the lawsuits’ allegations. But doing so has not prevented its settlement offer, which it put on the table when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last September.

Any settlement would also cover claims against the company from those who believe they or their loved ones were harmed by Purdue’s opioids. About 117,000 have filed personalinjury forms. July 30 marked the filing deadline.

Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media Purdue Pharma headquarters at 201 Tresser Blvd. in Stamford.