STAMFORD, Conn. – Purdue Pharma L.P. today announced its intent to appeal today’s ruling by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, which vacated the Bankruptcy Court’s September 2021 order confirming its chapter 11 plan of reorganization (the “Plan”). The company will simultaneously continue its efforts to forge yet further consensus around a Plan that will deliver billions of dollars to the American people for opioid abatement. The current Plan enjoys overwhelming support, including from every one of the many ad hoc creditor groups in the case and more than 95% of Purdue’s over 120,000 voting creditors, including 43 states and territories. Fewer than 20 stakeholders appealed.
Contrary to more than 30 years of governing precedent approving third party releases in appropriate circumstances, the District Court held that third party releases are never authorized by the Bankruptcy Code outside of the asbestos context.
“While the district court decision does not affect Purdue’s rock-solid operational stability or its ability to produce its many medications safely and effectively, it will delay, and perhaps end, the ability of creditors, communities, and individuals to receive billions in value to abate the opioid crisis,” said Steve Miller, Chairman of the Purdue Pharma L.P. Board of Directors. “These funds are needed now more than ever as overdose rates hit record-highs, and we are confident that we can successfully appeal this decision and deliver desperately needed funds to the communities and individuals suffering in the midst of this crisis.”
Purdue’s Plan of Reorganization was developed through more than two years of collaborative efforts in an inclusive process that saw governments, creditors, and representatives of individual victims come together to forge a solution that serves the public interest.
Please click here for more information on Purdue’s Plan.