Purdue Pharma Able To Appeal Ruling To Overturn Bankruptcy Confirmation Order Protecting It From Opioid Litigation

Purdue Pharma Class Action Appeal Overview: 

• Who: Purdue Pharma will be allowed to appeal a federal judge’s recent ruling to overturn an order that had approved its bankruptcy reorganization plan.
• Why: The bankruptcy plan included a $4.5 billion settlement agreement that would protect Purdue and its billionaire owners, the Sackler family, from litigation related to its alleged role in exacerbating the opioid crisis.
• Where: The case is being heard in New York federal court.

Purdue Pharma will be allowed to challenge a federal judge’s December ruling to overturn a bankruptcy confirmation order protecting the OxyContin maker from class action lawsuits related to the opioid crisis. 

Purdue, along with its billionaire owners, the Sackler family, had previously had their bankruptcy reorganization plan approved in September in the face of 3,000 complaints against the company. 

The bankruptcy plan was originally put in place to protect Purdue and the Sacklers from any current or future class action lawsuits targeting them for their alleged role in exacerbating the opioid crisis. 

Purdue will now be able to challenge the latest ruling, which stripped it of the protections put in place by the bankruptcy plan and put in limbo a $4.5 billion settlement agreement to resolve opioid litigation, Reuters reports.  

Settlement Offers Protection From Future Litigation Related To Opioid Crisis

The settlement was made between Purdue, the Sacklers and 15 states in July, a month before the company would go on to submit its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. 

Terms of the settlement include non-debtor releases for the Sackler family, which offers them protection from future litigation related to the opioid crisis and the role its OxyContin drug played in it. 

The Sacklers funded the $4.5 billion settlement agreement, which would go toward opioid abatement programs, in return for the releases.

The U.S. Department of Justice, along with several states, opposed the releases for the Sacklers, arguing the family should not be given protections since they personally did not file for bankruptcy, Reuters reports. 

A separate $26 billion multi-state opioid settlement had its opt-in deadline extended to Jan. 26 earlier this week, Law360 reports. The settlement resolves claims made against Johnson & Johnson and three of the nation’s largest drug distributors. 

Georgia and Nevada were the latest states to decide to opt in to the settlement, which will pay them $636 million and $300 million, respectively. 

Do you believe the Sackler family should be given protection from opioid litigation? Let us know in the comments! 

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