Purdue Pharma, drugmaker accused of fueling the opioid epidemic, files for bankruptcy | Washington Post

Also see New York Uncovers $1 Billion in Sackler Family Wire Transfers | NYT

"Under the settlement announced last week, more than 2,000 small government plaintiffs and 24 states have agreed to the dissolution of the company and a contribution from the Sacklers, valued at $10 billion to $12 billion. But the settlement valuation is in dispute, and a number of states have balked at those terms.

The settlement, which does not include any admission of wrongdoing, would reorganize Purdue during the bankruptcy into a trust that would continue to produce OxyContin, as well as overdose “rescue’’ drugs that would be distributed at no cost to communities across the country."

Some related statistics from Understanding the Epidemic | Drug Overdose | CDC Injury Center:

• "From 1999 to 2017, more than 700,000 people have died from a drug overdose.

• Around 68% of the more than 70,200 drug overdose deaths in 2017 involved an opioid. 

• In 2017, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids (including prescription opioids and illegal opioids like heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl) was 6 times higher than in 1999. 

• On average, 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose."

Purdue Pharma, drugmaker accused of fueling the opioid epidemic, files for bankruptcy | Washington Post