As Purdue Pharma attempts to win a controversial reorganization plan in bankruptcy court, the drug maker is also seeking approval for $34.7 million in employee bonuses, including $2.1 million for the chief executive officer.
The request, which was filed in a court motion earlier this week, raises the possibility of yet another round of outrage over bonuses the company wants to pay its employees. Last year, a handful of Senate Democrats slammed the drug maker for seeking to reward its executives and argued the move was offensive to thousands of families harmed by the opioid crisis. Even so, the bonuses were approved.
Currently, about 500 Purdue employees are eligible for bonuses, or $67,000 per person. By contrast, the reorganization plan sets a maximum payout of $48,000 to individual claimants, but only in cases where an individual was prescribed the OxyContin painkiller that was marketed by Purdue and died as a direct result. In other cases, the payout is $3,500 to $31,000. But various fees will be subtracted.
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