The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a multibillion-dollar bankruptcy settlement by Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, in a move that will send victims of the opioid crisis back to negotiations with the company and the Sackler family.
The plan, which was approved by the victims of the opioid crisis, would have required the Sackler family to pour up to $6 billion into a nonprofit created to help victims of the opioid crisis. In exchange, the family, which owned and controlled Purdue Pharma until 2019, would be shielded from future litigation.
In a 5-4 opinion written by Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, the court wrote that the plan is not allowed under the bankruptcy code because only Purdue Pharma — and not the Sacklers — have filed for bankruptcy, and a plan can’t shield “non-debtors” from future litigation without consent of all of the claimants.
