US judge accepts Purdue’s opioid bankruptcy settlement plan
Deal releases $4.3bn to combat addiction, but protects Sackler family from litigation
A court in New York, US, has agreed a controversial bankruptcy settlement for Purdue Pharma that also puts an end to thousands of lawsuits. Post-bankruptcy, the company will be renamed Knoa Pharma. It will be largely owned by the National Opioid Abatement Trust, with profits funding programmes to prevent and treat addiction. But the Sackler family, who owned and ran Purdue, have escaped liability. They also get to keep most of their vast fortune.