News Archive
Professor Nicolas Terry Cited in 'Washington Post', TRT World on Purdue Pharma Settlement with Oklahoma
03/27/2019
The Washington Post quotes IU McKinney Law Professor Nicolas Terry on the strategy Purdue Pharma may be following in agreeing to a $270 million out-of-court settlement with the state of Oklahoma regarding the company’s liability for the opioid epidemic in that state.
According to the article, “Purdue Pharma, state of Oklahoma reach settlement in landmark opioid lawsuit” (written by Lenny Bernstein and Katie Zezima, March 26, 2019) which cites the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 400,000 people in the U.S. died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2017.
Purdue, the maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin, along with other drug companies, are facing over 1,600 potential law suits from all over the U.S. alleging culpability in marketing and pushing doctors to overprescribe the drug leading to the twenty-year rise in addiction to and deaths from opioids.
While many had speculated that Purdue would declare bankruptcy in the face of so many law suits, Professor Terry, Executive Director of the Hall Center for Law and Health at IU McKinney, said in the article, “My guess is there is some other game afoot.”
Professor Terry also spoke live on TRT World on March 27 regarding the same case (video).
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.
