Bankruptcy judge to release billions from Purdue Pharma to opioid victims

Two decades after the first legal action was filed, a judge on Friday indicated he would approve a settlement of thousands of lawsuits against Purdue Pharma that would funnel billions of dollars to the victims of the opioid crisis. The judgment will require the Sackler family, which owned Purdue, to pay up to $7 billion to states, tribes and affected communities that were named in the lawsuits. Judge Sean Lane from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York is expected to issue the judgment Tuesday. After that, Purdue Pharma will officially be dissolved as a company and shift to become a public benefit company called Knoa Pharma. The new business will be allowed to continue to produce opioids and opioid overdose-reversal medications, with all profits funneled to addiction remediation efforts.