The Latest: Other opioid claims move ahead amid bankruptcy
Posted September 16, 2019 7:01 am.
The Latest on Purdue Pharmas bankruptcy filing (all times local):
10 a.m.
The lead lawyers for local governments suing drug companies over the opioid crisis say the OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy filing won’t stop a trial scheduled for next month against other parts of the drug industry.
Purdue filed for bankruptcy late Sunday night as part of a settlement plan. Lead lawyers for the local governments suing the company and others support the settlement, as do attorneys general for about half the states.
Other states oppose the plan and say they’ll fight it in court. The first court proceeding in Purdue’s bankruptcy case is expected Tuesday in White Plains, New York.
The lawyers for the local governments say the first federal trial on the matter scheduled to start Oct. 21 in Cleveland should still move ahead.
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2 a.m.
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has filed for bankruptcy protection.
But that doesn’t mean the company or the family that owns it is off the legal hook.
States are divided on whether to accept a tentative settlement with the company as part of the bankruptcy.
Several of those who have declined it have made it clear that they plan to object to the bankruptcy and push forward with their claims against members of the Sackler family in state court.
It will be up to a bankruptcy judge to decide if those suits can move ahead. And even if he stops them, he could consider their claims in his court.
The bankruptcy filing Sunday will likely get Purdue out of a trial over the toll of opioids scheduled for October in Cleveland.
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Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
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Follow Geoff Mulvihill at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill
The Associated Press
