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Attorney General William Tong

09/01/2021

Attorney General Tong Responds to Purdue Bankruptcy

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement regarding Judge Robert Drain’s decision today that he will approve a bankruptcy plan for Purdue Pharma that grants a lifetime legal shield to the Sackler family. The plan purports to extinguish Connecticut’s claims against Purdue and, most strikingly, the non-bankrupt Sacklers using a controversial and unprecedented legal maneuver that has resulted in calls for federal bankruptcy reform to ensure this miscarriage of justice can never be repeated.

Connecticut plans to file a notice of appeal. Attorney General Tong is actively weighing all options for next legal steps in conjunction with other opposing parties.
“Our bankruptcy system is broken. Connecticut is prepared to appeal, and we are weighing all viable options to preserve our claims against the Sacklers,” said Attorney General Tong. “The Sacklers are not bankrupt, and they should not be allowed to manipulate bankruptcy laws to evade justice and protect their blood money. This decision is a slap in the face to the millions of suffering and grieving Americans who have lost their lives and loved ones due to the Sacklers calculated and craven pursuit of opioid profits. We need bankruptcy reform now to close the non-debtor release loophole to ensure wealthy bad actors cannot misuse our bankruptcy courts to escape justice.”

Purdue’s bankruptcy plan requires the Sackler family to pay $4.3 billion over nine years to states, municipalities and private plaintiffs, including Connecticut.

Attorney General Tong joined eight other attorneys general filing objections in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The objections note that the Sackler family made at least $11 billion in profits from producing and deceptively marketing OxyContin, a major driver in the rise of the opioid crisis and, importantly, the Sacker family is not bankrupt or even claiming bankruptcy. The crisis has cost the nation millions of lives and more than $2 trillion in damage.

Attorney General Tong testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law last month in support of bankruptcy reform.


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Elizabeth Benton
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