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OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma is asking a court to throw out a lawsuit filed by Massachusetts' attorney general that accuses the company, its owners and top executives of deceiving patients and doctors about the risks of opioids. In its most expansive response to date, Connecticut-based Purdue argued in a motion filed late Friday that the state makes "sensational and inflammatory allegations" in its bid to hold the company accountable for America's deadly opioid addiction crisis, and called for the lawsuit to be dismissed "as oversimplified scapegoating based on a distorted account of the facts." (Salsberg, 3/4)

In a recent motion to dismiss the case, Purdue says Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (D) has created a “sensationalist and distorted narrative that ignores facts” in the lawsuit she filed last year. It alleges the company disregarded safety and addiction and deceived patients and doctors to get them to prescribe and take high doses of OxyContin and looked the other way as overdose deaths linked to prescription opioids soared. Purdue alleges that some claims made by Healey are contradicted by the Massachusetts Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, which approved the medication and its labeling. Purdue argues that Healey is putting forward a “misleading narrative” about OxyContin. (Zezima, 3/4)

The judge, Purdue’s motion says, should “dismiss the Commonwealth’s [lawsuit] as oversimplified scapegoating based on a distorted account of the facts unsupported by applicable law. “To be sure, there is an opioid crisis in the Commonwealth,” the motion continues, “but the responsibility for this crisis cannot, as a matter of law, be tied to one company that manufactures a tiny fraction of the prescription opioids in the Commonwealth.” (Joseph, 3/4)

The court did not initially rule on the first motion because the Attorney General's office amended the complaint. The commonwealth released the heavily redacted complaint that accuses the company of contributing to the opioid crisis. Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders ruled that the unredacted amended suit be released in January. The redactions revealed internal company documents and email correspondence between top executives, some of whom are named as defendants. (del Valle, 3/4)

Although a multi-state lawsuit has not been filed yet, the attorneys general hope their efforts result in a settlement, in the billions of dollars, that would allow their states to implement new prevention and treatment programs. But Jepsen said the proliferation of lawsuits by counties, cities and towns complicate the legal process “making it much harder for the state-led effort to convince the industry to agree to a comprehensive settlement.” (Radelat, 3/4)

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP is exploring filing for bankruptcy to address potentially significant liabilities from roughly 2,000 lawsuits alleging the drugmaker contributed to the deadly opioid crisis sweeping the United States, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The potential move shows how Purdue and its wealthy owners, the Sackler family, are under pressure to respond to mounting litigation accusing the company of misleading doctors and patients about risks associated with prolonged use of its prescription opioids. (3/4)

Its restructuring advisers now include AlixPartners LLP, a New York-based consulting firm known for its restructuring work, according to a person familiar with the hiring. The company last year hired law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP as restructuring counsel and added longtime restructuring specialist Steve Miller to chair its board. Purdue has been targeted in lawsuits by some 1,600 cities, counties and states seeking to recoup costs incurred by widespread opioid abuse. The municipalities claim Purdue and other drugmakers’ aggressive marketing of prescription painkillers helped hook the nation on opioids, leading to a proliferation of overdoses from both legal and illegal opioids. (Randazzo and Hopkins, 3/4)

Shares of other companies named in the lawsuits fell after the reports. Drugmaker Endo International Plc was down as much as 15 percent, and Mallinckrodt Plc fell as much as 6.7 percent. Drug distributors AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health Corp. and McKesson Corp. also fell.(Armstrong, 3/4)

The legal battle over who’s at fault for the opioid crisis, which involves more than 1,600 lawsuits in federal and state courts, could get even more complicated soon, with OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma reportedly considering filing for bankruptcy. As first reported Monday by Reuters and confirmed by the Wall Street Journal, Purdue is weighing a bankruptcy filing in the face of the lawsuits, which allege the company misled doctors and the public about safety concerns as it promoted its opioid painkillers. (Joseph, 3/4)

A potential decision by OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to file for bankruptcy could mean significant delays and complications for thousands of lawsuits accusing the company of significantly contributing to a wave of opioid-addicted deaths that ravaged communities in every corner of the country. Such a move, which was first reported Monday morning by the Reuters wire service, could mean local and state governments with lawsuits pending before a federal judge in Cleveland would have to wait to try and claw back the billions spent in medical, law enforcement and social services over the past several years. (Heisig, 3/4)