FILE PHOTO: Bottles of prescription painkiller OxyContin pills, made by Purdue Pharma LP sit on a counter at a local pharmacy in Provo, Utah, U.S., April 25, 2017.
The filings cited more than 200,000 deaths in the U.S. tied directly to prescription opioids between 1999 and 2016.
In large states such as California and New York, claims alone totaled more than $192 billion and $165 billion, respectively.
Purdue filed for bankruptcy in 2019 under pressure from more than 2,600 lawsuits brought by cities, counties, states, Native American tribes, hospitals and others.
Purdue and the Sacklers have pointed to fentanyl and heroin as more significant culprits in the opioid crisis.
States in their filings, though, pointed to National Institute on Drug Abuse research estimating that about 80% of heroin abusers previously took prescription opioids.
States and other litigants are in talks to determine how to allocate proceeds from Purdue’s bankruptcy estate as part of the company’s attempted reorganization. »
