MONDAY, Sept. 9, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Settlement talks with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma over its role in the U.S. opioid crisis have reached a stalemate and the company is expected to file for bankruptcy, according to state attorneys general involved in the negotiations.
The talks have been underway for months in an attempt to determine Purdue’s responsibility for the opioid epidemic that has resulted in 400,000 deaths during the past two decades, the Associated Press reported.
The “negotiations are at an impasse, and we expect Purdue to file for bankruptcy protection imminently,” Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery and North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein wrote in an email to attorneys general throughout the country.
“Purdue declines to comment on that in its entirety,” Purdue spokeswoman Josephine Martin told the AP. The first federal trial over the opioid epidemic could begin next month and could involve nearly every state and hundreds of local governments.
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