OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP is may file for bankruptcy to address potentially significant liabilities from 2,000 lawsuits alleging the drugmaker contributed to the deadly opioid crisis sweeping the U.S., Reuters reports. The potential move shows how Purdue and its owners, the Sackler family, are under pressure to respond to mounting litigation accusing the company of misleading doctors and patients about risks associated with prolonged use of its prescription opioids. Purdue denies the allegations, saying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved labels for its opioids carried warnings about the risk of abuse and misuse associated with the pain treatments.
Filing for Chapter 11 protection would halt the lawsuits and allow Purdue to negotiate legal claims with plaintiffs under the supervision of a U.S. bankruptcy judge. Shares of Endo International Plc and Insys Therapeutics Inc, two companies that like Purdue have been named in lawsuits related to the opioid epidemic, closed down 17 percent and more than 2 percent, respectively, on Monday. More than 1,600 lawsuits accusing Purdue and other opioid manufacturers of using deceptive practices to push addictive drugs that led to fatal overdoses are consolidated in an Ohio federal court. A Purdue bankruptcy filing is not certain. Purdue faces a trial in a case brought by Oklahoma’s attorney general that, like others, accuses the company of contributing to a wave of fatal overdoses by flooding the market with highly addictive opioids while falsely claiming the drugs were safe.