WASHINGTON − The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a settlement reached with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that required members of the Sackler family to pay $6 billion but shielded them from lawsuits over the nation’s opioid crisis.
The high court’s decision, which it made without comment, came in response to a request from the Biden administration to put the settlement reached last year between Purdue and state and local governments on hold. The Supreme Court also agreed to hear arguments in the case later this year.
A New York appeals court approved the company’s bankruptcy plan earlier this year. But a U.S. government trustee, represented by the Justice Department, last month asked the Supreme Court to put that ruling on hold.
Michele Sharp, a Purdue spokesperson, said the company is confident in the legality of “our nearly universally supported Plan of Reorganization, and optimistic that the Supreme Court will agree.” She said the company is disappointed that the trustee, “despite having no concrete interest in the outcome of this process, has been able to single-handedly delay billions of dollars in value that should be put to use for victim compensation, opioid crisis abatement for communities across the country, and overdose rescue medicines.”
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