Use of OxyContin profits to fight opioids formally approved

By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press

A judge formally approved a plan Friday to turn OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma into a new company no longer owned by members of the Sackler family and with its profits going to fight the opioid epidemic. A U.S. bankruptcy court judge signed the plan Friday, more than two weeks after giving it preliminary approval. The plan settles some 3,000 lawsuits the company faced over the opioid epidemic that has killed a half-million Americans. Some states and the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee have already filed appeals because the plan would grant protections to members of the Sackler family from lawsuits over opioids.