CompaniesCompanies Law Firms Purdue Pharma LP FollowNEW YORK, May 30 (Reuters) - Bankrupt OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma can shield its owners, members of the wealthy Sackler family, from opioid lawsuits in exchange for a $6 billion contribution to the company's broader bankruptcy settlement, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday. Circuit Court of Appeals said that U.S. bankruptcy law allows legal protections for non-bankrupt parties, like the Sacklers, in extraordinary circumstances. Purdue has pleaded guilty to charges related to its opioid marketing, while its owners have expressed regret but denied wrongdoing. The Sackler contribution accounts for most of the cash payment in a broader bankruptcy settlement that Purdue values at more than $10 billion. Similar lawsuits related to the U.S. opioid crisis have resulted in more than $50 billion in settlements with opioid manufacturers, drug distributors and pharmacy chains.

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Persons: Sackler, Eunice Lee, Richard Wesley, Wesley, OxyContin, Mortimer Sackler, Raymond Sackler, Dietrich Knauth, Bill Berkrot, Alexia Garamfalvi Organizations: Law, Purdue, Purdue Pharma, The, Circuit, Appeals, U.S, Supreme, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Thomson Locations: U.S, The New York