Bankruptcy Deals Shut Out Opioid Victims

Large corporate bankruptcies and court‑approved settlement plans can concentrate payouts, impose claims‑processing rules, and use trust structures that leave a large share of individual claimants with no meaningful compensation even after years of waiting. The Purdue settlement example shows how claim-eligibility rules, caps, and allocation formulas can convert massive claimant counts (nearly 140,000 in this case) into payouts for fewer than half of those who filed. — This matters because such settlement mechanics shape whether corporate wrongdoing yields deterrence and restitution, and they expose a governance gap at the intersection of bankruptcy law, mass torts, and public‑health recovery.