Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,

where we bring evidence, experience, and perspective to make sense of today's leading health challenges.

If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health question at jhhhu.edu.

That's public health question at jhhu.edu for future podcast episodes.

This is Lindsay Smith Rogers, producer of Public Health on Call.

Today we turn to the bankruptcy of Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin.

Andy Dietrich is an expert in bankruptcy law and co-head of finance and restructuring at Sullivan

and Cromwell, a major law firm in New York City. He joins Dr. Josh Sharfstein to explain the

basics of bankruptcy, how the controversial Purdue bankruptcy

deal came together, and what is happening now before the U.S. Supreme Court? Let's listen.

Andy, Dietrich, thank you so much for joining me in public health on call to talk about a topic

that we don't really think very much about in public health, but has been a big part of your career, bankruptcy.

Thanks, Josh. My pleasure to be here.

So bankruptcy to a public health audience these days

means Purdue Pharma, the company that made OxyCon.

And I wonder if you could help me understand how this bankruptcy works.

Sure. Well, it's obviously an incredibly complicated bankruptcy and a complicated set of facts.

One of the most complicated bankruptcies ever filed.

But the most important thing I think to understand about the bankruptcy

is it's just a bankruptcy of Purdue Pharma. It's not a bankruptcy of the Sacklers. The reason why it's

not a bankruptcy of the Sacklers is because the Sacklers are a diverse family. Whatever assets they have

are sprinkled all over the world. And they are owned, for the most part,

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