Purdue Pharma Attempts to Sway DOJ Appeal Behind the Scenes
To seal a potential settlement deal that would grant them broad immunity, Purdue Pharma engages in back door tactics.
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Purdue Pharma launched a behind-the-scenes effort in recent days aimed at discouraging the Justice Department from appealing a pending multibillion-dollar bankruptcy settlement for the OxyContin-maker, reports NPR. An early draft of a letter distributed by the drug company to groups supportive of the bankruptcy deal is framed as a direct appeal to DOJ officials and purports to be written by those injured by the company and members of the Sackler family. The preemptive pressure campaign comes as federal Judge Robert Drain has signaled he will approve the plan on Wednesday at a hearing in White Plains, N.Y.
Sources suggested Purdue Pharma was engaged in a good-faith bid to protect a fragile settlement, which has gained backing from most of the state and local governments that sued the Sacklers and their drug company. The letter warns that any Justice Department appeal would “jeopardize the delivery of billions of dollars” to communities struggling with high rates of addiction, overdose and death. Sources also suggested that Purdue’s lobbying efforts were commonplace in complex bankruptcy cases. The potential deal has sparked intense controversy in part because it would grant broad immunity from opioid lawsuits to members of the Sackler family as well as hundreds of their associates in return for more than $4.3 billion over the next decade, most of which would go to fund drug treatment and other health care programs designed to ease the opioid crisis.
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