Judge: Purdue Pharma can resume groundwork on its settlement

By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press

A federal judge says OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma can resume laying the groundwork to carry out its $10 billion settlement plan. Judge Linda McMahon’s ruling Wednesday denies the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee’s request for a long pause in the plan. The office within the Justice Department asked for the settlement to be put on hold while it appealed. The office argued that otherwise Purdue eventually could claim that it’s too far along to stop. McMahon said she would let Purdue put the plan into action only when it and the other entities that had agreed to the settlement pledged not to make that claim.