Supreme Court rejects Purdue Pharma settlement
WASHINGTON, DC — THE U.S. SUPREME COURT, IN A 5-4 RULING, rejected a nationwide opioid settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would have provided billions of dollars in funding to combat the opioid epidemic; at the same time, it would have shielded the family who owns one of the companies from civil lawsuits related to the epidemic. According to several news sources, the settlement was considered controversial, and the Supreme Court took six months to consider. It had also faced objections from the Biden administration, which believed a better agreement could be brokered. As part of the deal, the Sacklers would have contributed up to $6 billion and forfeited ownership but were allowed to retain billions of dollars more. Moreover, it would have allowed Purdue Pharma to emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used for treatment and prevention. Justice Neil Gorsuch, one of the six conservatives on the nation’s highest court, wrote for the majority — which included progressive Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — that “nothing in present law authorizes the Sackler discharge.”
Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored the dissent, naming those joining him as Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, according to the court document released after the decision.
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