Purdue Pharma, Owners Offer to Settle Suits for $10B-$12B: NBC

(Bloomberg) -- Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, are offering to settle more than 2,000 lawsuits against the company for $10b to $12b, NBC News reported, citing two unidentified people familiar.

• Potential deal was part of confidential conversations discussed by Purdue’s lawyers at a meeting in Cleveland Aug. 20
  • At least 10 state attorneys general and the plaintiffs’ attorneys gathered at meeting, where David Sackler represented the Sackler family, the people said
• Lawsuits that Purdue and Sacklers are seeking to settle allege that Purdue’s sales practices were deceptive and at least partly responsible for opioid crisis
  • Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family have denied the allegations
• “While Purdue Pharma is prepared to defend itself vigorously in the opioid litigation, the company has made clear that it sees little good coming from years of wasteful litigation and appeals,” the company said in a statement to NBC News
  • “Purdue believes a constructive global resolution is the best path forward, and the company is actively working with the state attorneys general and other plaintiffs to achieve this outcome”
  • A representative for the Sackler family did not respond to a request for comment, NBC said
• NOTE: A $572 million judgment against Johnson & Johnson on Monday may mean one analyst’s “bear case scenario” of $150 billion in opioid damages just got one step closer

To contact the reporter on this story: Nathan Crooks in Miami at ncrooks@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sebastian Tong at stong41@bloomberg.net, Belinda Cao

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