Democratic Senators Oppose Effort To Convert Purdue Pharma to Public Asset

A group of Democratic senators is urging the Justice Department to drop its efforts to convert OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma into a public asset, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Under a proposed $8 billion settlement, the company would turn over future profits to cities and states that sued the company over its role in the opioid crisis.

In a letter to the Justice Department, senators including Chuck Schumer of New York, Dianne Feinstein of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said states should not be required “to lead Purdue’s public benefit ‘repurposing’ and take part in an enterprise that has contributed to thousands of American deaths. This arrangement ignores the objections of many of the states themselves, who have no interest in owning or operating a company that has devastated their communities with dangerous opioids, and raises significant public policy concerns.”

The Justice Department proposal is scheduled to be reviewed next week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, NY.