Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said the state will “vigorously and aggressively” pursue its lawsuit against Stamford-based Purdue Pharma following a report that the maker of OxyContin is considering bankruptcy, the Hartford Courant reported. Filing for Chapter 11 protection would put a hold on all litigation against Purdue, including the lawsuit filed by Connecticut that challenges the drug company’s aggressive marketing of dangerous opioids. Tong confirmed that a bankruptcy filing by the company that made and marketed the world’s top-selling painkiller could complicate the state’s effort to pursue a legal case alleging Purdue’s aggressive marketing contributed to the deadly opioid crisis. "A bankruptcy filing include[s] stays of proceedings and follow[s] a very different set of rules than civil litigation," Tong said. “If they choose to go down that road, we will fight tooth and nail to make sure it’s not an impediment to us, to make sure Purdue Pharma pays for the tremendous damage done to people of our state.” In Connecticut, 1,038 people died of accidental drug overdoses in 2017, mainly opioids. From 2013 to 2016, the state experienced a fourfold increase in deaths from opioid overdoses.
