Unsettled: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis
A shocking inside account of reckless capitalism and injustice in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case.



In September 2019, Purdue Pharma-the maker of OxyContin and a company controlled by the infamous billionaire Sackler family-filed for bankruptcy to protect itself from 2,600 lawsuits for its role in fueling the US overdose crisis. Author and activist Ryan Hampton served as cochair of the official creditors committee that acted as a watchdog during the process, one of only four victims appointed among representatives of big insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmacies. He entered the case believing that exposing the Sacklers and mobilizing against Purdue would be enough to right the scales of justice. But he soon learned that behind closed doors, justice had plenty of other competition-and it came with a hefty price tag.



Unsettled is the inside story of Purdue's excruciating Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, the company's eventual restructuring, and the Sackler family's evasion of any true accountability. It's also the untold story of how a group of determined ordinary people tried to see justice done against the odds-and in the face of brutal opposition from powerful institutions and even government representatives.
"1139997089"
Unsettled: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis
A shocking inside account of reckless capitalism and injustice in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case.



In September 2019, Purdue Pharma-the maker of OxyContin and a company controlled by the infamous billionaire Sackler family-filed for bankruptcy to protect itself from 2,600 lawsuits for its role in fueling the US overdose crisis. Author and activist Ryan Hampton served as cochair of the official creditors committee that acted as a watchdog during the process, one of only four victims appointed among representatives of big insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmacies. He entered the case believing that exposing the Sacklers and mobilizing against Purdue would be enough to right the scales of justice. But he soon learned that behind closed doors, justice had plenty of other competition-and it came with a hefty price tag.



Unsettled is the inside story of Purdue's excruciating Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, the company's eventual restructuring, and the Sackler family's evasion of any true accountability. It's also the untold story of how a group of determined ordinary people tried to see justice done against the odds-and in the face of brutal opposition from powerful institutions and even government representatives.
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Unsettled: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis

Unsettled: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis

by Ryan Hampton

Narrated by Jonathan Yen

Unabridged — 12 hours, 2 minutes

Unsettled: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis

Unsettled: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis

by Ryan Hampton

Narrated by Jonathan Yen

Unabridged — 12 hours, 2 minutes

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Overview

A shocking inside account of reckless capitalism and injustice in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case.



In September 2019, Purdue Pharma-the maker of OxyContin and a company controlled by the infamous billionaire Sackler family-filed for bankruptcy to protect itself from 2,600 lawsuits for its role in fueling the US overdose crisis. Author and activist Ryan Hampton served as cochair of the official creditors committee that acted as a watchdog during the process, one of only four victims appointed among representatives of big insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmacies. He entered the case believing that exposing the Sacklers and mobilizing against Purdue would be enough to right the scales of justice. But he soon learned that behind closed doors, justice had plenty of other competition-and it came with a hefty price tag.



Unsettled is the inside story of Purdue's excruciating Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, the company's eventual restructuring, and the Sackler family's evasion of any true accountability. It's also the untold story of how a group of determined ordinary people tried to see justice done against the odds-and in the face of brutal opposition from powerful institutions and even government representatives.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A page-turning and poignant memoir that draws back the curtains in the fight to bring the fraudulent peddlers of OxyContin to justice.”
—Beth Macy, New York Times bestselling author of Dopesick

“A dramatic and unprecedented view of what really happened inside the multibillion-dollar bankruptcy of OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma. With rare insider access to the proceedings, Hampton mercilessly exposes how the arcane world of bankruptcy law failed time and again to address the injuries and concerns of individual victims. Unsettled will stay with you long after the last page.”
Gerald Posner, New York Times bestselling author of Pharma and God’s Bankers

“In this epic fight for justice on behalf of victims of the opioid crisis, Ryan Hampton exposes the corrupt and rigged bankruptcy system that allowed Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family to literally get away with murder. Hampton, who had a front-row seat at the proceedings, has guts and grit. He writes with a fire in the belly. Unsettled is a propulsive tale that calls out corporate greed, money-hungry lawyers, and complicit government bureaucrats amid a public health tragedy that continues to rage to this day. Hampton is not only a leader in the recovery community. He’s also an American hero.”
—Eric Eyre, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Death in Mud Lick

Unsettled is a fast-paced takedown of a flawed judicial system, told with unwavering honesty. Hampton provides exclusive and jaw-dropping insights into the lawyerly underworld of the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy, where executives and billionaires responsible for our nation’s opioid epidemic have found refuge from accountability. Readers will grieve, rage, and be moved to action by this unique and powerful book.”
—Charlotte Bismuth, former prosecutor and author of Bad Medicine

“An extraordinary book, both a legal thriller and an intimate memoir about the opioid crisis sweeping our nation and those at the very heart of it—Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family. Ryan’s fury burns through these pages, and yours will too once you read it.”
—Elizabeth Vargas, bestselling author of Between Breaths

“[Ryan Hampton] combines the sarcasm of an early Bill Bryson travelogue with the disbelief of Alice in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in this breezy but informative memoir of his falling down a rabbit hole of negotiation, mediation, and Zoom calls as he pushed for a fair shake for victims...A passionate, well-informed insider’s account of one of the most controversial bankruptcies in U.S. history.”
Kirkus

Kirkus Reviews

2021-09-22
An opioid-victims’ advocate vents his fury about the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy that allowed the Sackler family to avoid prison and keep most of their fortune.

Several years into his recovery from opioid addiction, Hampton had a modest knowledge of the law when the Department of Justice appointed him to the official Unsecured Creditors Committee in the Purdue bankruptcy case. He soon became co-chair of the nine-member group, which included four private citizens as well as institutional heavyweights like CVS Pharmacy and which had a fiduciary duty to thousands of claimants against Purdue. The author combines the sarcasm of an early Bill Bryson travelogue with the disbelief of Alice in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in this breezy but informative memoir of his falling down a rabbit hole of negotiation, mediation, and Zoom calls as he pushed for a fair shake for victims. Many of his frustrations involved the Sacklers’ army of nuclear-strength law firms like Jones Day, “the firm that had previously represented such stand-up characters as the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and the bin Laden family.” Other maddening setbacks involved cash grabs by states that hadn’t spent much of the federal money they’d already received to fight the opioid crisis, power plays that deprived victims of urgently needed financial help. Hampton finds it small comfort that Purdue ultimately pleaded guilty to multiple felonies and agreed to pay about $750 million to victims, or up to $48,000 per death from a Purdue product. “This wasn’t a bankruptcy,” writes the author, “it was a heist.” Hampton recaps some of the background on the opioid crisis found in stellar books such as Chris McGreal’s American Overdose and Patrick Radden Keefe’s Empire of Pain, but he offers a unique firsthand perspective on a bankruptcy he credibly portrays as yet another injustice to Purdue’s victims.

A passionate, well-informed insider’s account of one of the most controversial bankruptcies in U.S. history.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940176465433
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Publication date: 10/26/2021
Edition description: Unabridged
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