Purdue Pharma files for bankruptcy

The producer of the prescription painkiller OxyContin has agreed to pay up but not to admit responsibility in the nationwide opioid crisis. After reaching a tentative settlement with about half of the state and local governments that sued it, Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy in White Plains, N.Y., on Sunday. The settlement could be worth up to $12 billion over time.

Is that the end of it? Some of the plaintiffs rejected the settlement, saying it paid too little and failed to hold Purdue Pharma liable for opioid deaths. Opioid overdoses have killed about 400,000 people in the last two decades in the United States. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain will have to decide whether the lawsuits by states and local governments that refused the settlement can go forward against the Sackler family, which owns the company.

Dig deeper: Read Charissa Koh’s report in Compassion about how states will likely spend the settlement money.