Exclusive: OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma exploring bankruptcy - sources

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP is exploring filing for bankruptcy to address potentially significant liabilities from roughly 2,000 lawsuits alleging the drug manufacturer contributed to the deadly opioid crisis sweeping the United States, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The potential move shows how Purdue and its wealthy owners, the Sackler family, are under pressure to respond to mounting litigation accusing the drugmaker of misleading doctors and patients about risks associated with prolonged use of its prescription opioids.

Purdue denies the allegations, arguing that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved labels for its opioids carried warnings about the risk of abuse and misuse associated with the pain treatments.

Filing for Chapter 11 protection would halt the lawsuits and allow Purdue to negotiate legal claims with plaintiffs under the supervision of a U.S. bankruptcy judge, the sources said.

-snip-

BUSINESS NEWSMARCH 4, 2019 / 10:20 AM / UPDATED 23 MINUTES AGO
Mike Spector, Jessica DiNapoli, Nate Raymond
6 MIN READ


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-purduepharma-bankruptcy-exclusive/exclusive-oxycontin-maker-purdue-pharma-exploring-bankruptcy-sources-idUSKCN1QL1KL

[Squinch]

1. Good. They have been little more than dealers in the way they went about marketing this

drug.

[yaesu]

2. They don't have a Dick Cheney to help them out like he helped out Dresser

The Halliburton-Dresser deal that happened under his watch and which he made a ton of money damn near sank Halliburton with asbestos claims.

[eck Zach tly]

3. Couldn't happen to a better family

The Sacklers SUCK!

[Dopers_Greed]

4. They're using bankruptcy to try and weasel their way out of any consequences

[eggplant]

5. At least they aren't trying to get out from under crippling student loan and medical debt.

That would really be a weasel move.

[cstanleytech]

6. Are the owners named in those lawsuits as defendants? If not then maybe they should be.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

7. Copying the Pacific Gas and Electric business model

Step 1: screw things up
Step 2: get sued
Step 3: declare bankruptcy, woops, can't pay any of the lawsuits.
Step 4: bonuses to execs for thinking up the bankruptcy
Step 5: go back to step 1

[mahina]

8. Check out Sam Quinones' book Dreamland.

Last edited Mon Mar 4, 2019, 04:06 PM - Edit history (2)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22529381-dreamland

He’s got lots of interviews all over the web. It’s a very well crafted and well researched book that tells the whole story.

These pills the Sacklers make are needed, but the over prescription lead to the heroin epidemic that kills more people in many communities than auto accidents.

[Julian Englis]

9. K & R

[Maxheader]

10. Rich beyond reason...

[defacto7]

11. How convenient

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

12. What will Rush Limbaugh do now?

Cold turkey?

[Scruffy1]

13. Sackler is worth 13 billion dollars.

This whole episode is a good example of what's wrong with America. There is a whole lot of guilt to go around but there is very little punishment. Bogus pain clinics sprang up all over whose sole function was to write Oxycontin scrips. Then the heroin dealers moved in because their product cost less. As far as I know there has been little criminal prosecution. The whole episode reminds me of the history of mining in the USA. Pump all the money out, bankrupt the company and leave the disaster left behind to the public. Only in this case they were mining people for gold rather than people mining gold.