Purdue’s bankruptcy judge has extended his support of Sacklers By Reuters

Author: Maria Chutchian

(Reuters) – A bankruptcy judge has extended temporary protections against opioid-related lawsuits for members of the Packue Pharma-owned Sackler family until Feb. 1 after another judge overturned a bankruptcy agreement with producer OxyContin.

Robert Drain of the United States extended his cover-up to White Plains (New York) on Wednesday, giving Purdueri and the Sacklers time to discuss the way forward. The court approved Purdue’s reorganization plan and the underlying agreement in September, which was aimed at resolving the wide-ranging lawsuit that the company and Sacklers blamed on the U.S. opioid epidemic through misleading feeding through misleading marketing.

The settlement included protection for future opioid lawsuits for Sackler in exchange for a $ 4.5 billion contribution to the plan, which would be used to fund money to reduce opioids. The protections, known as non-debtor notes, prompted appeals from several states and the custodians of the U.S. Department of Justice bankruptcy.

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon on December 16 rejected Drain’s approval of the agreement, saying the bankruptcy court had no jurisdiction to release him. Purdue, who intends to appeal the decision, then asked Drain to extend the temporary protections for the Sacklers, which have been in force for two years.

The current protections were due to expire on Thursday, which meant that the suspended lawsuits could be resumed without delay.

Drain accepted Purdu’s request without secretly arguing that negotiations would be more effective in the face of objections from both states.

He also warned that if the parties, including Sacklers, did not negotiate in good faith next month, a changed agreement would have “consequences”.

A lawyer from both states, Connecticut and Washington, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The reorganization plan garnered the support of 95% of the company’s creditors, most of whom sued Purdue and Sacklers.

Purdue filed for bankruptcy in September 2019, accusing the company and members of the Sackler family of 3,000 lawsuits accusing them of contributing to a public health crisis that has damaged the lives of about 500,000 people since 1999.