The Supreme Court has overturned a settlement that would have shielded the Sackler family from future lawsuits related to the opioid crisis. The family, which made its fortune selling prescription opioids through Purdue Pharma, had agreed to pay $6 billion to families and states affected by the opioid epidemic. In exchange, they would have been immunized from future civil liability claims.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the 5-4 majority, stated that the Sacklers were seeking greater relief than a bankruptcy discharge usually provides. He noted that they hoped to extinguish even claims for wrongful death and fraud without putting all their assets on the table. The court found that nothing in the bankruptcy code authorizes such relief.
The decision has been met with mixed reactions. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in his dissent, warned that the court’s decision would have a “devastating” impact on victims of the opioid epidemic. He urged Congress to amend US bankruptcy law to address the chaos that will now ensue from the court’s ruling.
The case has significant implications for the ongoing opioid crisis, which has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans. The Sackler family and Purdue Pharma have faced thousands of lawsuits claiming they aggressively marketed opioid painkillers, sparking the epidemic. The overturned settlement now throws the resolution of these lawsuits into uncertainty.
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