Purdue Pharma’s chief executive said that the company is considering bankruptcy as it faces a cascade of lawsuits alleging that the drugmaker played a key role in driving the nation’s opioid crisis, including aggressively and deceptively marketing the powerful painkiller OxyContin, the Washington Post reported. Purdue’s president and chief executive, Craig Landau, said that the company has not yet decided whether to file bankruptcy, but he said that it is something the company is weighing as it considers the impact of potential legal settlements or jury verdicts that could cost tens of billions of dollars. Purdue has denied the allegations lodged against it in court and is mounting a vigorous defense. Most of the lawsuits are consolidated in a federal court in Cleveland, where settlement talks have been ongoing for more than a year as lawyers simultaneously prepare for two trials scheduled for the fall.
