Purdue Pharma

Updated on Friday, April 29, 2022 at 1:21 p.m. Lawyers for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and many of those who had claims against the company over the toll of opioids joined together Friday to urge a federal judicial panel to advance a plan that would settle lawsuits across the country.

Three trials are underway now, in Florida, West Virginia and Washington state. New legal settlements are being reached practically every week to provide governments money to fight the crisis and in some cases funds for medicines to reverse overdoses or to help with treatment.

Members of the Sackler family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma will get protection from lawsuits for another three weeks, a judge said Wednesday, buying more time to work out a settlement of thousands of legal claims against the company over the toll of opioids.

The former president and board chair of Purdue Pharma told a court Wednesday that he, his family and the company are not responsible for the opioid crisis in the United States.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Tuesday he doesn’t agree with the settlement formula, which would allocate funds largely based on population. He said West Virginia needs a bigger piece of the pie, since it was hit so hard by the opioid epidemic.

Under a bankruptcy plan filed late Monday, the OxyContin maker would pay $500 million up front, promising billions in future payments. Twenty-four states rejected the proposal.

In three weeks, a West Virginia judge will take up a request to unseal court documents that include details about OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma’s deceptive sales practices. The contents of the entire court file have remained secret for two decades.

On this West Virginia Morning, we have all the details on West Virginia Senate races statewide. Also, in this show, we hear from an expert about the recent $8 billion Purdue Pharma settlement and whether that will help families devastated by the business practices that led so many to become addicted to pain pills.

Purdue Pharma, the company that makes OxyContin, the powerful prescription painkiller that experts say helped touch off an opioid epidemic, will plead guilty to three federal criminal charges as part of a settlement of more than $8 billion, Justice Department officials announced Wednesday.

The federal judge overseeing the bankruptcy case of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma set a June 30 deadline to file claims against the company. That includes…