Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, has reached a $8.34 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department and agreed to plead guilty to three felonies over its role in the nation’s opioid crisis.
The multibillion price tag is mostly symbolic however, as the bankrupt company’s assets fall well short of $8 billion, reports the Wall Street Journal, and ultimately, Purdue Pharma will pay the federal government $225 million.
The $8.34 billion settlement—and the $225 million the feds will eventually receive—are separate from the claims filed by Baton Rouge and hundreds of other municipalities across the country, says Burton LeBlanc, an attorney with Dallas-based Baron & Budd, hired to represent Baton Rouge in its lawsuit against opioid distributors.
“Right now it’s still too early to tell in the bankruptcy process to see how competing claimants, like Baton Rouge, will get paid and how much they will get paid,” LeBlanc says. “This is an important step to take, though, for the bankruptcy to come to a conclusion, which we expect to occur early 2021.”
Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy last October, and with its conclusion, would come the check for Baton Rouge, at least for its lawsuit against Purdue Pharma. The city-parish has sued several other companies for their role in the opioid crisis, including wholesale distributors, according to LeBlanc. Although Purdue Pharma would be the first lawsuit to be settled, LeBlanc says he’s in active negotiation with several others.
