OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP spent years building a restructuring plan to settle thousands of lawsuits and deliver funding to combat the opioid crisis. That plan is in limbo after a federal judge ruled that a deal the company struck with its owners isn’t allowed under the law, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. After U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon’s ruling last week overturning a roughly $4.5 billion settlement between the OxyContin maker and members of the Sackler family who own the company, Purdue, once on the verge of settling an onslaught of lawsuits over its flagship opioid painkiller, will remain in bankruptcy court as it attempts to salvage a settlement that took years and hundreds of millions of dollars to craft. Billions of dollars that Purdue and the family had agreed to pay are now on hold, jeopardizing payouts expected by the people injured by OxyContin overuse and for programs to combat the worsening opioid epidemic. The company so far has spent more than $548 million in fees for lawyers, and other professionals advising the company and creditor groups, according to court papers filed earlier this month. Purdue said in papers filed on Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., that although Judge McMahon’s ruling is a “significant setback,” the company believes it has a good chance to win on an appeal.
