The federal judge weighing the $4.5 billion settlement between Purdue Pharma LP and the Sackler family members who own the OxyContin maker said she had serious concerns about whether they abused the bankruptcy system by collecting billions of dollars from the company before it filed for chapter 11 protection.
Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York said during a hearing Tuesday there was “quite a bit” of circumstantial evidence made public during Purdue’s chapter 11 case to suggest members of the Sackler family transferred money out of the company to shield their wealth after the drugmaker pleaded guilty in 2007 to federal charges over how it marketed OxyContin, its flagship opioid painkiller.
