ANALYSIS: Appearances Are Everything in the Purdue Pharma Case

In his bench ruling confirming the Purdue Pharma Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert D. Drain decried the media’s characterization of the plan as a corrupt bargain made at the sole behest of a scheming Sackler family. I see his point. Debtors’ counsel’s tactics were aggressive. But they were legally permissible, and the plan itself appears to be legally sound.

Nevertheless, at least three state attorneys general are appealing or planning to appeal the confirmation order, and the case has prompted a call for legislative reforms to the Bankruptcy Code. While this case was always going to ...