Purdue Pharma is a privately-held manufacturer of OxyContin, a synthetic opioid, that accounted for roughly 91% of its U.S. revenue. Decision and Order on Appeal, In re Purdue Pharma, No. 7:21-cv-07966-CM, 10 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 16, 2021) (SDNY decision). Allegedly, Purdue intentionally misled the FDA and medical community by falsely claiming that OxyContin was nonaddictive in order to aggressively increase sales. Purdue’s marketing effort was so successful that it earned $34 billion in total revenue between 1996 and 2019. This caused a dramatic increase in opioid abuse, addiction, and overdoses in the United States. From 1999 to 2019, nearly 247,000 people in the United States died from prescription opioid overdoses.

Purdue defended and settled dozens of lawsuits between 2019 and 2020, but the lawsuits were increasing in frequency and starting to name members of the Sackler family, the founders and owners of Purdue, as defendants. Purdue faced potential financial and operational ruin and the Sacklers faced significant financial liability.

Purdue Pharma Files for Bankruptcy and the Sacklers Seek Releases