U.S. to Announce Purdue Settlement Over Opioid Marketing

(Bloomberg) -- Purdue Pharma LP has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve federal probes of how it marketed OxyContin, the addictive painkiller blamed for helping to spark the opioid epidemic, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Justice Department is expected to hold a morning press conference to announce resolution of the investigations, according to the person, who wasn’t authorized to comment publicly on the deal.

The deal is likely to boost Purdue’s effort to move past claims it helped spark a public-health crisis over opioids with its marketing of OxyContin. Yet Purdue still faces thousands of civil claims by local and state officials, for which the company has proposed a separate $10 billion settlement. Governments are seeking reimbursement from Purdue and others for tax dollars spent coping with the crisis, which led to more than 200,000 U.S. overdose deaths and chronic addiction.

To cope with a tidal wave of claims, Purdue last year filed for Chapter 11 protection in bankruptcy court in New York, which must approve the settlement with the Justice Department.

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