Purdue Pharma, the maker of the controversial prescription painkiller OxyContin, has filed for bankruptcy in federal court. The move is part of a tentative agreement it says will provide $10bn to resolve an avalanche of lawsuits against it by American cities, counties and states that blame Purdue for igniting the deadly US opioids crisis.
But a group of states led by Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut oppose the deal and want to take Purdue to trial in an effort to win bigger damages and what they say is a greater measure of justice from the company and the billionaire members of the Sackler family who own it.
