Judge will approve Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan that shields

By Tom Hals and Mike Spector

(Reuters) -A U.S. judge said on Wednesday he would approve OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP’s bankruptcy reorganization plan, clearing a path to resolve thousands of opioid lawsuits and shielding the company’s wealthy Sackler family owners from future opioid litigation.

Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain said that with small changes he would approve the plan, which overcame opposition to garner support from nearly all states, local governments, tribes, hospitals and other creditors that voted on the restructuring. They became creditors in the bankruptcy by virtue of suing Purdue and Sackler family members over their alleged contributions to the nationwide opioid epidemic.

Drain said it was clear the wrongful marketing of the company’s opioid products contributed to the addiction crisis, which touched every corner of the country. “That makes the bankruptcy case before me highly unusual and complex,” said Drain, who spent more than six hours reading his ruling from the bench.

The plan, which Purdue values at more than $10 billion, dissolves the drugmaker and shifts assets to a new company not controlled by Sackler family members. The new company will be owned by a trust run to combat the opioid epidemic.

It also includes legal releases shielding Sackler family members from future opioid litigation, a controversial provision that some states opposed. Congressional Democrats in recent weeks introduced legislation to block such legal releases.

The Sacklers have denied allegations, raised in lawsuits and elsewhere, that they bear responsibility for the opioid addiction crisis. They have said they acted ethically and lawfully while serving on Purdue’s board.

The Purdue bankruptcy plan includes a $4.5 billion contribution from Sackler family members. The contribution is in the form of cash that will be paid over roughly a decade and also includes $175 million in value from relinquishing control of charitable institutions.

Drain noted that he had expected a larger contribution from the Sacklers and said the evidence showed more might have been secured through litigation, although that was hard to predict.

“This is a bitter result,” he said. He also said he would not jeopardize what the plan achieved by rejecting it and asked for small changes to secure his final approval.

Still, the evidence showed the plan was negotiated by the creditors who all viewed the Sacklers as “the other side, the opposition, the potential defendants,” Drain said. “This is not the Sacklers’ plan.”

‘INSULTING TO VICTIMS’

The Stamford, Connecticut, drugmaker pleaded guilty to criminal charges in November stemming from its handling of opioids. At the outset of its bankruptcy case, Purdue said there were a number of legal defenses it could mount…