OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma proposes $10B bankruptcy exit

Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, on Tuesday proposed a $10 billion restructuring plan to exit bankruptcy and transfer its assets to a company focused on combating the opioid epidemic.

The plan, filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., would require members of the Sackler family, who own the company, to pay almost $4.3 billion over a decade — a larger amount than in previous proposals.

The company announced the changes in a statement released on Tuesday.

The family would have “no involvement” in the new company, which would instead be run by a new independent board, and in exchange, would be legally released from facing opioid-related lawsuits.

The settlement is designed to end thousands of lawsuits that blamed Purdue for helping to spark a wave of abuse, addictions, and deaths over the past 20 years.