WASHINGTON — The Justice Department moved on Thursday to block a bankruptcy plan that grants broad legal immunity to the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma, whose drug OxyContin has been at the heart of the nation’s opioid epidemic. William K. Harrington, the U.S. trustee for the Justice Department, filed a motion in federal court to halt confirmation of the settlement while the department appeals the judge’s decision to approve the deal. Mr. Harrington said that the court should grant his request for a stay because the federal government “has a substantial possibility of success on appeal and because the harm that would result from denying a stay outweighs any potential harm from granting one.”The contentious deal was approved this month by Judge Robert Drain, a federal judge in White Plains, N.Y. Among other things, it could release the Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma, from future legal liability in exchange for a $4.3 billion financial contribution from the family’s own fortune.

Source: New York Times September 16, 2021 22:46 UTC