A bankruptcy judge has extended until next year a shield that protects Purdue Pharma LP’s owners from litigation, saying the buffer is needed to facilitate negotiations with states on a potential multibillion-dollar settlement over the opioid crisis, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. A committee of opioid victims recently had sought to lift the injunction and allow lawsuits to proceed against members of the Sackler family who own Purdue, maker of the powerful opioid OxyContin. Judge Robert Drain of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., yesterday granted Purdue’s request to extend the injunction until March. The injunction covers the company as well as its owners. “The parties have an incredible opportunity at this moment to move forward quickly, to end these cases and get the money out to abate the opioid crisis,” Judge Drain said. “They should do it, and anything that distracts them from that process is not worth the candle.” Thousands of lawsuits accusing Purdue of helping fuel the opioid crisis were paused when the company filed for bankruptcy in September 2019.
