US Supreme Court strikes down settlement with Sacklers on opioid crisis
The billionaire family should be protected from further lawsuits. The Supreme Court banned this.
Demonstrators and family members of deceased opioid addicts demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court (archive image)
Photo: EPA
In a legal dispute over the addictive pain reliever OxyContin in the United States, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a nationwide settlement with drug giant Purdue. The settlement would protect members of the Sackler family from civil lawsuits, but also provide billions of dollars to fight the opioid crisis.
After more than six months of deliberations, the justices voted 5-4 to block the deal negotiated with authorities and victims. The Sacklers would have paid up to $6 billion and given up their company, but could keep billions more. Additionally, the company must continue to operate after bankruptcy and make its profits available for treatment and prevention. The Supreme Court had already stayed the deal last summer over the government’s objection. It is unclear what will happen next.
The Biden administration resisted the comparison
The justices faced the question of whether the legal protections offered by bankruptcy could be extended to people like the Sacklers who did not file for bankruptcy. Lower courts have reached conflicting decisions on this issue, which has implications for other product liability cases. The responsible department of the U.S. Department of Justice argued that bankruptcy law did not allow the Sackler family to be protected from lawsuits.
Former US President Donald Trump’s administration supported the solution. However, President Joe Biden’s administration has argued before the Supreme Court that if the court overturns the current deal, negotiations can resume and lead to a better outcome.
The pain reliever OxyContin hit the market in 1996. Purdue Pharma’s aggressive marketing is often cited as fueling the nation’s opioid crisis by getting doctors to prescribe painkillers regardless of the drug’s risks. Thousands of people died from drug overdoses.
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