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Purdue Pharma and other drug manufacturers are facing about 2,000 lawsuits across the United States related to allegations that they contributed to the opioid crisis through negligent marketing, fraud and unjust enrichment.

Cities, states, counties and tribal nations that have suffered as a result are trying to hold drugmakers responsible and recover some of their health care and law enforcement costs. However, a recent report that Purdue Pharma, maker of Oxycontin, may file for bankruptcy is raising new issues in litigation that has always been fraught with uncertainty, according to IU McKinney Law Professor Nicolas Terry.

In an article published March 13 for The Conversation, Professor Terry explains how a Purdue Pharma bankruptcy could slow lawsuits and make litigation costlier.

While the possibility that Purdue Pharma might enter into Chapter 11 bankruptcy is not a surprise, it “would be like hitting a nationwide pause button on all the claims against the company, whether in federal or state courts,” Professor Terry wrote.

A record 48,000 people died of overdoses related to opioids in 2017, including prescription painkillers, heroin and fentanyl. That brings the total number of U.S. deaths since the epidemic began around 20 years ago to almost 400,000, at an estimated cost of US$1 trillion.

Professor Terry is Hall Render Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Hall Center for Law and Health at IU McKinney, where he teaches healthcare and health policy courses. He serves on Indiana University’s Grand Challenges Scientific Leadership Team working on the response to addictions. He blogs at Harvard Law School’s Bill of Health, his “The Week in Health Law” podcast is at TWIHL.com, and he is @nicolasterry on twitter.