Massachusetts Attorney General Says Sacklers 'Will Be Held Responsible' After Supreme Court Vacates Purdue Bankruptcy Plan

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell made it clear that her office will make sure the Sackler family that owns Purdue Pharma will make reparations to families negatively affected by the opioid epidemic, following the Supreme Court‘s 5-4 decision on Thursday to dismiss the company’s bankruptcy plan.

"It is no secret that members of the Sackler family, through their control of Purdue, fueled the opioid crisis, devastating countless lives in the pursuit of profit,” Campbell said in a statement.

“The Sacklers must and will be held responsible, and, in the wake of this decision, we will use every power available to us to make sure that occurs. 

“My office will continue our nation-leading work to obtain the funding that is desperately needed to save lives, restore communities and fight the opioid epidemic in the Commonwealth.”

Also Read: Opioid Crisis and Corporate Accountability: Purdue’s Settlement in the Spotlight

Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma executives in June 2018 for allegedly deceiving doctors and the public to get more people on addictive opioids, including OxyContin, at higher doses for longer periods, causing thousands of Massachusetts residents to suffer, overdose or die, the attorney general’s office said in a news release.

The suit was put on hold after Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy in 2019, but Massachusetts and other states announced a settlement that would have required Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers to pay $5.5 billion to be put toward prevention, treatment and recovery programs in Massachusetts and other states.

Massachusetts was expected to receive as much as $110 million from the settlement, the release stated.

A U.S. bankruptcy court approved Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy plan, which included the states' settlements, in 2021.

In August 2023, the Supreme Court conducted a judicial review of the suit and put the bankruptcy plan on hold while it reviewed a challenge to the legality of the plan.

In today's decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy plan was not authorized under the U.S. bankruptcy code because it sought to effectively discharge claims against the Sacklers without the consent of affected bankruptcy claimants.

The Supreme Court remanded the case to the lower court for further proceedings. 

Purdue Pharma issued a statement expressing disappointment in the court’s decision, Reuters reported.

“Today’s ruling is heart-crushing because it invalidates a settlement supported by nearly all of our creditors — including states, local governments, personal injury victims, schools and hospitals — that would have delivered billions of dollars for victim compensation, opioid crisis abatement, and overdose rescue and addiction treatment medicines,” the company said.

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