Court says OxyContin maker’s bankruptcy and protections for Sackler family members can move ahead

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma can start executing a settlement that protects members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids, a court ruled Tuesday. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York allows the company’s transformation to start — though it’s still subject to approval from another court. The trustee warned the 2nd Circuit in the filing that if it did not keep Purdue’s transformation on hold, it might be too late, saying in a filing that “the plan proponents will act swiftly to consummate the plan” in an effort to make the objections moot. But in a court filing last week, the company asserted that “there is is no realistic prospect that the Plan can be substantially consummated until well after the Supreme Court decides” whether to take the case, noting that it would take at least several weeks to have a judge sign off on the final bankruptcy plan, and that the deal can’t be completed until after the company is sentenced for a criminal guilty plea — something that could not happen for months.