New York (AFP)
The US pharmaceutical group Purdue Pharma said on Sunday that it would declare bankruptcy in an amicable agreement, hoping to draw $ 10 billion to close thousands of complaints related to the opiate crisis.
Purdue President Steve Miller said in a statement that the agreement "will provide billions of dollars and vital resources to communities across the country trying to cope with the opiate crisis."
Under this agreement, however, subject to court approval, the entire value of the Purdue Group will be paid to an organization established for the benefit of the plaintiffs and the US population.
Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of one of the leading opioid pain medications, OxyContin, is the subject of more than 2,000 complaints.
The group said it had been under the protection of US bankruptcy law - "Chapter 11" - and said that the board of directors of a new company would be chosen by the plaintiffs before being approved by the company. bankruptcy court.
Miller also said the restructuring would avoid "wasting hundreds of millions of dollars and years of protracted litigation".
As part of the deal, the company could provide millions of drugs needed to treat drug addiction, such as Nalmefene and Naloxone, for free or at low cost.
In addition to the abandonment of control of Purdue, the rich American family Sackler could in private to have to contribute in particular $ 3 billion.
Highly influential in New York's Gotha, the Sacklers built their fortunes on OxyContin, the powerful painkiller accused of being at the heart of the opioid crisis that caused 47,000 overdose deaths in the United States in 2017 .
© 2019 AFP