Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY

A2 UP FRONT
Wednesday 18 september 2019
Purdue Pharma to stay in business as bankruptcy unfolds

By MICHAEL R. SISAK up several times as Purdue
Associated Press lawyers declared that they
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — wouldn't benefit from any
A judge cleared the way steps taken Tuesday to
Tuesday for OxyContin keep the company in busi-
maker Purdue Pharma to ness.
stay in business while it pur- As the bankruptcy unfolds,
sues bankruptcy protection Purdue will continue to pay
and settlement of more its approximately 700 em-
than 2,600 lawsuits filed ployees under preexisting
against it in a reckoning salary structures.
over the opioid crisis. No member of the Sack-
At the first court hearing ler family is an employee
since the Chapter 11 filing and none will receive pay-
late Sunday, Purdue law- ments, Purdue lawyer Eli
yers secured permission for Vonnegut said.
the multibillion-dollar com- Because of commitments
pany based in Stamford, Purdue made before the
Connecticut, to maintain bankruptcy filing, the com-
business as usual — paying pany will pay sign-on bo-
employees and vendors, nuses to five employees
supplying pills to distribu- and retention bonuses to
tors, and keeping current about 100 employees. The
on taxes and insurance. company agreed to hold
The continued viability of off on seeking to continue
Purdue is a key component other bonus plans, such as
of the company's settle- incentive bonuses.
ment offer, which could be Drain, the judge, also al-
worth up to $12 billion over In this April 2, 2018, file photo, a pharmacist in San Francisco poses for photos holding a bottle of lowed the company to
time. OxyContin. continue covering legal
Under the proposal, Associated Press fees for current and former
backed by about half the employees, which Von-
states, the Sackler family, ties suing it. as up to $1.5 billion more in has been spending more negut estimated wouldn't
which owns Purdue, would The Sacklers have also proceeds from the planned than $250 million a year on exceed $1.5 million per
turn the company, its assets agreed to pay a minimum sale of their non-U.S. phar- legal and professional fees, month. The company
and more than $1 billion in of $3 billion of their own maceutical companies. but it has not stopped law- stopped covering legal
cash reserves over to a trust money to the settlement "This is a highly unusual case suits against the Sacklers fees for members of the
controlled by the very enti- over seven years, as well in that the debtors have from moving forward. family on March 1, he said.
pledged to turn over their New York Attorney General "We swear up and down
business to the claimants," Letitia James, who is suing that no payments will go
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge the Sacklers and opposes to the Sacklers," Vonnegut
Robert Drain said. "All of the proposed settlement, said.
the claimants, in essence, said last week that her of- Purdue lawyers argued
have the same interest in fice found that members of that the sign-on and reten-
maximizing the value of the the family used Swiss and tion bonuses were vital to
business and avoiding im- other accounts to transfer attracting and keeping top
mediate and irreparable $1 billion to themselves. talent in a tumultuous time
harm." Purdue lawyer Marshall for the company. Cover-
Joe Rice, a lawyer for some Huebner said he hoped ing employee legal fees is
of the plaintiffs, estimated it states that are opposed to important to morale and
could be more than a year the proposed settlement sends a strong signal that
before the bankruptcy and could be persuaded to the company backs the
settlement are finalized. change their positions. people who work for it, the
"This is not a sprint. We've "It is, in essence, America lawyers said. Bankruptcy
got a little bit of a mara- itself that stands to benefit trustee Paul Schwartzberg
thon here," he said after the or lose from the success or objected, saying the bo-
three-hour hearing in New failure of these reorganiza- nuses went "way beyond"
York City's northern suburbs. tion proceedings," Huebner normal compensation and
Purdue's bankruptcy filing said. were padding the pockets
has effectively frozen all None of the Sacklers at- of employees who already
litigation against the com- tended the hearing, but make upward of $300,000
pany, which its lawyers said the family name did come a year.q