Download PDF    Trouble viewing this email?  View in web browser ›

The Wall Street Journal ProThe Wall Street Journal Pro
BankruptcyBankruptcy

Opioid Victims' Bankruptcy Hearing; Insurers Resist Boy Scouts Plan

By Andrew Scurria

 

Good day and welcome to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy's Daily Briefing. It's Friday, March 11. People affected by opioid addiction had their voice in bankruptcy court as OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma nears an exit from chapter 11. Insurance companies argued that Boy Scouts sex-abuse victims will be overpaid under its bankruptcy plan.

 

Top News

Dede Yoder poses with a photo of her son, Chris, who died of an overdose in 2017 at the age of 21.
PHOTO: SETH WENIG/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Opioid victims confront Purdue Pharma’s Sacklers in bankruptcy court. Victims of the opioid epidemic confronted the Sackler family members who own Purdue Pharma LP for the first time in bankruptcy court as the drugmaker nears a possible exit from chapter 11 that requires $6 billion in settlement payments from its owners.

Addressing three members of the Sackler family who served on Purdue’s board, more than two dozen people shared stories Thursday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y. of the disastrous effects physician-prescribed OxyContin.

The family members consented to hearing victims’ impact statements under a proposed settlement between the Sacklers and state attorneys general, which remains subject to a Justice Department appeal.

“I thought since the doctor prescribed it, it must be OK."

— Dede Yoder, who said her son, Chris, died in 2017 of an overdose at age 21
 

The Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy in 2020.
PHOTO: FRED PROUSER/REUTERS

Insurers contest claim values in Boy Scouts bankruptcy plan. The Boy Scouts of America’s plan for resolving 82,200 claims of childhood sexual abuse is being opposed by some insurance companies that worry some victims' claims may not be worth as much as what the youth group says they are.

 
Share this email with a friend.
Forward ›
Forwarded this email by a friend?
Sign Up Here ›
 
Advertisement
LEAVE THIS BOX EMPTY
 

International

PHOTO: GREGORY YETCHMENIZA/MAXPPP/ZUMA PRESS

Aeroflot’s decadeslong turnaround faces undoing. Aeroflot Russian Airlines PJSC spent billions of dollars over two decades transforming itself from a stodgy, Soviet-era carrier into an award-winning airline flying new jets around the world. In two weeks, all that progress threatens to come undone—showing how one of Russia’s best-known and most internationally connected companies has been threatened by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the West’s response.

 

ECB prepares to raise rates in 2022. The European Central Bank said it would phase out its large bond-buying program sooner than expected and paved the way for interest-rate increases later this year, roiling financial markets and underscoring the challenge that Europe faces in managing the potential stagflationary shock caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

 

Economy

Consumer prices hit 40-year high. Inflation accelerated 7.9% in February, largely driven by an increase in energy prices. But energy wasn’t the whole story. Other items such as groceries, plane tickets, rents and household appliances saw big price increases as well, in part driven by continued supply-chain difficulties, rising wages and, in the case of airline fares, higher fuel prices.

 

Bankruptcy

Moon nurseries says inability to buy insurance requires chapter 7 bankruptcy. Moon Nurseries Inc., an employee-owned plant marketer with a history dating back to 1767, said it plans to convert its chapter 11 bankruptcy to a chapter 7 liquidation because it is unable to get enough financing for insurance coverage.

Chapter 11 trustee Don Beskrone said Wednesday in a filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., that he can't oversee uninsured assets that include property, equipment and vehicles. Moon grows and sells trees, shrubs and plants from farms near Chesapeake City, Md. Mr. Beskrone said he believes that Moon assets have value, but that without insurance they are "burdensome" to the company and therefore wants court permission to abandon them. — Becky Yerak

 

SmartSky's wireless developer seeks chapter 11 after judgment. Wireless Systems Solutions LLC, a North Carolina-based wireless system developer, filed a chapter 11 petition Wednesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

The chapter 11 filing came in response to the U.S. District Court's confirmation of a $12 million judgment in a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed against WSS by SmartSky Networks LLC. SmartSky specializes in air-to-ground wireless communication networks and had hired WSS as a contractor in 2018. But the relationship ended up in a dispute, with SmartSky alleging WSS funneled SmartSky's intellectual property and equipment into a WSS affiliate. WSS has denied the accusation and filed a notice to appeal the $12 million judgment. — Akiko Matsuda

 

In Other News

A joint venture of CBRE Group Inc. and the William Warren Group won a bankruptcy auction for GVS Texas Holdings I LLC’s assets for $588.3 million, a price tag about $138 million more than the group’s initial bid. (Bloomberg)

 

About Us

Share your tips, suggestions and feedback with the WSJ Pro Bankruptcy team: Soma Biswas; Alexander Gladstone; Jodi Xu Klein; Akiko Matsuda; Jonathan Randles; Alexander Saeedy; Andrew Scurria; Becky Yerak. 

Follow us on Twitter: @SomaBisWSJ; @gladstonea; @jodixu; @AskAkiko; @Sparkyrandles; @ajsaeedy; @AndrewScurria; @beckyyerak.

 
Desktop, tablet and mobile. Desktop, tablet and mobile.
Access WSJ‌.com and our mobile apps. Subscribe
Apple app store icon. Google app store icon.
Unsubscribe   |    Newsletters & Alerts   |    Contact Us   |    Privacy Notice   |    Cookie Notice
Dow Jones & Company, Inc. 4300 U.S. Ro‌ute 1 No‌rth Monm‌outh Junc‌tion, N‌J 088‌52
You are currently subscribed as [email address suppressed]. For further assistance, please contact Customer Service at wsjpro‌support@dowjones.com or 1-87‌7-891-2182.
Copyright 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.   |   All Rights Reserved.
Unsubscribe