Almost $400 million of fees and expenses have been racked up by professionals working the bankruptcy of Stamford, Conn.-based Purdue Pharma LP, Bloomberg News reported. The bills add up to more than half the amount that all individuals harmed by OxyContin would share under the drugmaker’s proposed settlement of personal injury claims. Purdue’s financial woes have turned into a cash machine for the lawyers and consultants hired by the company and its creditors who are sorting through claims that the drugmaker fanned the flames of the U.S. opioid crisis. “These are huge — this is a large chunk of money that would otherwise be going to pay victims of a horrible tort,” said Prof. Bob Lawless University of Illinois School of Law. “You have to pay the undertaker. Whether they have to be paid that much is another question.” Purdue is unusual because its biggest creditors aren’t vendors or landlords, but cities and states reeling from the opioid epidemic, as well as the people who lost everything, including their loved ones, to opioid drugs. Purdue Pharma is paying market rates for professionals in the case, the company said in an emailed statement, noting that it’s responsible for the fees of multiple creditor groups.
