BENNINGTON — The Select Board reluctantly agreed Monday to accept terms of a multi-billion dollar settlement of complex bankruptcy proceedings and other litigation focused on OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma and the company’s founders and owners, the Sackler family.
Some 3,000 lawsuits by municipal, state, county and other entities, including Bennington and Brattleboro and the state of Vermont, were consolidated and have been the subject of ongoing negotiations in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y.
The most recent talks have focused on proposed changes to a company bankruptcy plan that now calls for Sackler family members to contribute $4.5 billion in cash and other assets, while not admitting any wrongdoing, the Associated Press reported.
The suits generally allege that the company and the Sacklers significantly contributed to the nation’s opioid addiction crisis because of the firm’s marketing practices for the opioid painkiller OxyContin.
“I think this deal stinks,” said Select Board member Bruce Lee-Clark. “The Sackler family is not paying what they should for what they’ve done.”
But Lee-Clark said it “doesn’t matter what we do,” since the consolidated settlement apparently will be approved by a majority of the litigants.
“We are just a flea on the backside of an elephant,” he said.
Lee-Clark and the other board members unanimously approved the settlement after emerging from an executive session.
Sarah Perrin said he was prepared to vote against it but voted in favor because the board’s actions could not affect the amount of money the town will receive.
TOWN’S SHARE
Town Manager Stuart Hurd said the town has not received word on how much the settlement will provide for Bennington, which he said is in a group of communities with less than 400,000 in population.
Hurd noted that Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan said this week he remained opposed to the settlement terms, but a majority of litigants have approved the agreement, which means it is expected to be finalized.
Donovan said in a statement that the settlement doesn’t go far enough to hold the Sackler family accountable.
Hurd said Tuesday that no further information on the amount Bennington will receive was yet available.
The state is expected to receive an estimated $11.7 million to $14.7 million, or .3 percent of the total, through the settlement, Hurd said, adding that town officials will have an opportunity to provide input on how the state’s share is allocated.
Brattleboro, Bennington and two other Vermont communities are included in the settlement, Hurd said.
In general, proposed uses for Purdue/Sackler settlement funds include efforts to provide opioid addiction recovery services and support for those struggling with addiction.
The Purdue/Sackler bankruptcy/reorganization plan also calls for members of the Sackler family to give up ownership of the Connecticut-based company and waive attorney-client privilege to release hundreds of thousands of confidential communications with lawyers about the firm’s tactics for selling opioids, the AP reported.
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