Sacklers Would Give Up Ownership of Purdue Pharma Under Settlement Proposal – The New York Times

[“The Weekly,” our new TV show, examines why a confidential government document containing evidence so critical it had the potential to change the course of the opioid crisis was kept in the dark for more than a decade.]

The settlement talks were first reported by NBC. Purdue emailed a statement in response to the reports: “While Purdue Pharma is prepared to defend itself vigorously in the opioid litigation, the company has made clear that it sees little good coming from years of wasteful litigation and appeals. The people and communities affected by the opioid crisis need help now. Purdue believes a constructive global resolution is the best path forward, and the company is actively working with the state attorneys general and other plaintiffs to achieve this outcome.”

The Sacklers declined to comment.

Maura Healey, the Massachusetts attorney general, who filed the first state lawsuit against individual Sackler family members, declined to comment on the content of the settlement negotiations.

The settlement talks have been underway for months, largely at the behest of Judge Dan Polster, the federal judge in Cleveland who is overseeing some 2,000 lawsuits by the local governments against companies in the opioids industry.

Purdue wants to achieve what is called a global settlement — an agreement by all parties that would end the lawsuits. To reach that goal, both the states, whose cases have been brought by their respective attorneys general, and the federal plaintiffs would have to make a unified agreement with Purdue.