Individuals who filed claims over opioid addiction or overdose deaths against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP are projected to receive as much as $48,000 under the company’s bankruptcy plan.
Estimated payouts under Purdue’s chapter 11 proposal, filed Monday, depend on the severity of an individual’s injury or addiction, with the least severe cases getting an estimated $3,500. Administrators would determine individuals’ eligibility for compensation and rate the severity of their opioid injuries through a point system, according to court papers filed Monday. Specific eligibility and qualification requirements will be made public later.
A preliminary analysis projects victims who qualify for the most severe injuries will receive between $16,000 and $48,000, less severe cases likely would get between $5,000 and $31,000, and the least severe cases likely would get $3,500, according to court papers. Purdue’s court filings said it is impossible to determine with certainty how much a specific personal-injury claimant will get from the trust. The analysis was performed by lawyers representing a group of people with personal-injury claims against Purdue, court papers say.
The compensation procedures are part of a broader reorganization plan that offers a blueprint for resolving more than 100,000 personal-injury claims related to OxyContin, Purdue’s flagship opioid painkiller.
The bankruptcy plan, which tracks the ways that other companies have resolved massive legal liability through chapter 11, was criticized Tuesday by state attorneys general who haven’t signed on to Purdue’s restructuring deal and by some lawyers representing opioid victims who believe it doesn’t provide enough funding for those affected by addiction.
