Drug-maker Purdue Pharma is expected to file for bankruptcy protection now that settlement talks over its role in the nation’s opioid crisis have hit a brick wall, two state attorneys general said Saturday.
Purdue and owners the Sackler family have offered to settle some 2,000 lawsuits against the company for a reported $10–$12 billion — but discussions on how to dole out the dough have stalled, with the Sacklers rejecting two proposals and refusing to offer any additional solutions, the Tennessee and North Carolina AGs said.
“As a result, the negotiations are at an impasse, and we expect Purdue to file for bankruptcy protection imminently,” they wrote in a joint email to their counterparts in at least 17 other states that are also suing Purdue.
Now thousands of state and local governments who have sued the drug giant for its role in the crisis that’s touched 400,000 American lives are expected to duke it out in bankruptcy court to get a piece of the company’s coffers.
Purdue made a fortune selling pain-killer OxyContin while allegedly downplaying its addictive nature, according to a lawsuit filed by New York AG Letitia James.
The company reached a $270-million settlement with the state of Oklahoma to side-step a trial there in June.
Purdue declined to comment, and the Sacklers could not be reached.
With Post wires
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