Purdue Pharma

Purdue Pharma's 2019 bankruptcy came after the company's OxyContin had contributed to the opioid epidemic that killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. The Sackler family, Purdue's owners, had extracted billions in profits while promoting opioid use that created addiction, overdose, and death. Purdue's bankruptcy was designed to resolve litigation while preserving Sackler wealth—a controversial structure that drew accusations of using bankruptcy to evade accountability. The mechanism failure was creating externalities that eventually became liabilities. Purdue made profits while society bore the costs of addiction treatment, lost productivity, and death. Eventually, those externalities became legal claims that exceeded the company's value. The $7+ billion settlement consumed the company while the Sackler family retained most of their wealth. Purdue Pharma became the defining case of corporate behavior creating societal harm that eventually destroys the corporation. The company is being dissolved, with its assets funding opioid abatement. The Sacklers faced some financial consequences but no criminal penalties, sparking debate about whether bankruptcy can be used to escape full accountability.