Purdue Pharma caused US$2.15t in US economic damage

[WASHINGTON] Purdue Pharma, the bankrupt maker of OxyContin painkillers, helped inflict more than US$2.15 trillion in financial damage on the US economy while pushing highly addictive opioids on Americans for almost two decades, four dozen states told a judge.

Almost every US state and territory will seek to recover a fraction of those alleged losses in Purdue's Chapter 11 case, which the company filed to block thousands of civil lawsuits over opioid-related deaths and injuries. New York's losses alone total more than US$165 billion, according to a joint filing by the states made public Monday in US Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York.

The filing comes amid arguments from some attorneys general that a global settlement falls short of Purdue's and its owners' share of what local and state governments need for dealing with the financial cost of the opioid crisis. The Sackler family, which owns Purdue, have denied any wrongdoing and said the proposed settlement is intended to resolve litigation by providing help to those who need it.

"This financial toll only accounts for a sliver of the damage inflicted on the American people," New York Attorney General Letitia James said Monday in a statement. "The millions of families that have suffered as the result of addiction, ailments and death can never be repaid for their losses."

The states' tally includes an array of costs, including money for addiction treatment and health care, increased financing of the criminal justice system, lost revenue for businesses, child welfare, and even the lost economic input of victims who were once contributing members of society.

The US government will also seek a payout from Purdue. The Department of Justice is demanding Purdue pay more than US$11 billion in criminal and civil penalties as part of its bankruptcy reorganisation plan, people familiar with the claims said this month. Other creditors include individuals who lost a loved one to opioid addiction and hospitals that treated addicts.

Purdue's US$10 billion global settlement plan calls for the Sackler family to hand over Purdue to a trust controlled by the states, cities and counties that have sued to recoup billions spent battling opioid addictions and overdoses. It also would require the family to come up with US$3 billion themselves.

The states and territories haven't yet laid out how much money they'll try to recover from the company. The filing so far merely explains how much money they think the economy has lost from the opioid crisis, which has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans.

BLOOMBERG