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Purdue Pharmacy in Bankruptcy Court

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Tiredretiredlawyer
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Purdue Pharmacy in Bankruptcy Court

#1

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/6/3/20 ... ly-keep-it
The Sackler family made billions off OxyContin, and a new ruling means they’ll probably keep it
The Sackler family is one of the richest families in America. They made billions upon billions of dollars selling drugs to Americans through their pharmaceutical outfit, Purdue Pharma. Their OxyContin, the synthetic heroin-like painkiller—which they pushed and lied about—is the foundational drug that has led to our country’s opioid health crisis. With all of their money, the Sacklers have been able to buy candidates and politicians’ souls while also funding anti-democracy voter suppression initiatives. Just ask Republican bottom-feeder Sen. Susan Collins of Maine about the Sacklers if you want the company line repeated back at you.

On Wednesday, the Sackler empire made it over what some are calling a “major hurdle” in their attempts to use the bankruptcy courts of our country to protect their fortunes from thousands of lawsuits. Perdue Pharmaceuticals filed for bankruptcy back in 2019 and not unlike fellow death purveyor the NRA, the move was a clear attempt to create immunity from developing legal problems. On Wednesday, NPR reports, “Federal Judge Robert Drain in White Plains, N.Y., moved the controversial deal forward despite objections from dozens of state attorneys general, setting the stage for a final vote by the company's creditors expected this summer.”

This comes after attorneys general in 21 states rejected a reported $18 billion settlement offer from the pharmaceutical giant because that price was far too low, considering that conservative estimates of the financial cost of the opioid crisis in our country are a quarter of a trillion dollars. (That’s trillion with a “T.”) Wednesday’s decision is a step forward in the bankruptcy process that could extend immunity to “dozens of family members, more than 160 financial trusts, and at least 170 companies, consultants and other entities associated with the Sacklers.”

This is why Melissa Jacoby, a bankruptcy law expert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Ars Technica back in 2019 that the Sacklers were to get “the benefit of bankruptcy without the burdens of bankruptcy.” Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey told NPR last month that if this deal ends up finalized, it would truly be a case of the rich buying their own justice. “The bankruptcy system should not be allowed to shield non-bankrupt billionaires. It would set a terrible precedent. If the Sacklers are allowed to use bankruptcy to escape the consequences of their actions, it would be a roadmap for other powerful bad actors.”

The general estimate on what the Sacklers have personally pulled in off of OxyContin over the decades comes to about $35 billion. The proposed settlement of $10-$12 billion that Perdue Pharma would put into a public trust (to settle the over 2,000 lawsuits they are facing) would reportedly force the Sackler outfit to part with $4 billion. Depending on where you look, the 20-member Sackler clan is estimated to have a total net worth of between $11 billion and $13 billion.

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AndyinPA
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Re: Perdue Pharmacy in Bankruptcy Court

#2

Post by AndyinPA »

Depressing news.

Unfortunately, not really unexpected.
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p0rtia
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Re: Perdue Pharmacy in Bankruptcy Court

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Post by p0rtia »

Local NPR reporter is live tweeting Sackler bankruptcy confirmation hearing:





I've followed Brian Mann for a year now, and think he's quite good.
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Re: Purdue Pharmacy in Bankruptcy Court

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Post by RTH10260 »

Purdue Pharma Is Dissolved and Sacklers Pay $4.5 Billion to Settle Opioid Claims
The ruling in bankruptcy court caps a long legal battle over the fate of a company accused of fueling the opioid epidemic and the family that owns it.

By Jan Hoffman
Sept. 1, 2021

Purdue Pharma, the maker of the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin, was dissolved on Wednesday in a wide-ranging bankruptcy settlement that will require the company’s owners, members of the Sackler family, to turn over billions of dollars of their fortune to address the deadly opioid epidemic.

But the agreement includes a much-disputed condition: It largely absolves the Sacklers of Purdue’s opioid-related liability. And as such, they will remain among the richest families in the country.

Judge Robert Drain of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., approved the settlement, saying he wanted modest adjustments. The painstakingly negotiated plan will end thousands of lawsuits brought by state and local governments, tribes, hospitals and individuals to address a public health crisis that led to the deaths of more than 500,000 people nationwide.

The settlement terms have been harshly criticized for shielding the Sacklers. They are receiving protections that are typically given to companies that emerge from bankruptcy, but not necessarily to owners who, like the Sacklers, do not themselves file for bankruptcy.

Several states, including Connecticut and Washington State, have already said they intend to appeal the judge’s ruling.


https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/heal ... ement.html
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tek
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Re: Purdue Pharmacy in Bankruptcy Court

#5

Post by tek »

ms.tek is watching Dopesick, the film about the Perdue Oxycontin clusterfuck.

I'm only seeing parts of it, but it is pretty sickening.
dan1100
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Re: Purdue Pharmacy in Bankruptcy Court

#6

Post by dan1100 »

https://www.npr.org/2021/12/16/10650460 ... id-lawsuit

"A federal judge has overturned a bankruptcy settlement worth more than $4 billion which granted immunity from opioid lawsuits to members of the Sackler family who own the company that makes Oxycontin."

No more info yet.


I'm thinking this was an appeal from the Bankruptcy judge to the district court?????
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bob
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Re: Purdue Pharmacy in Bankruptcy Court

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Post by bob »

dan1100 wrote: Thu Dec 16, 2021 8:28 pmI'm thinking this was an appeal from the Bankruptcy judge to the district court?????
Appeals from the bankruptcy court can go to either a federal district court or an optional bankruptcy appellate panel, but only the 1st, 6th, 8th, and 9th have set up those panels (a "BAP").

The Purdue Pharma is in the S.D.N.Y.; the 2d hasn't set up a BAP.

This ruling from S.D.N.Y. is appealable to the 2d proper.
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