Purdue Pharma civil liability deal rejected by SCOTUS

The Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling on the morning of June 27 rejecting the deal struck by Perdue Pharma which would shield its owners, the Sackler family, from civil prosecution for their role in the Opioid Epidemic.

The Sackler family made billions of dollars through the sale of opioids, including Oxytocin, starting in the 1990s. The class of highly addictive pain medications which they are accused of marketing to both patients and doctors in misleading or even fraudulent ways.

The over-prescription and subsequent abuse of opioids is estimated to have cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans between the early 1990s and 2021. Millions more were touched by the damage caused to families and communities due to opioid dependency.

Purdue Pharma was based in Norwalk before moving to Stamford during the height of the epidemic.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong welcomed the decision.

“This decision is a definitive rebuke of the Sackler family’s abuse of the bankruptcy code. The U.S. Supreme Court got it right—billionaire wrongdoers should not be allowed to shield blood money in bankruptcy court. In practical terms, this sends us back to bankruptcy court, where I expect we will re-enter mediation. Connecticut led the way in extracting the initial $6 billion settlement from Purdue and the Sacklers, and we will be front and center again in any new negotiations. From day one, this fight has been about justice and accountability for the hundreds of thousands of victims of Purdue’s misconduct and the Sackler family’s greed. We will continue to insist that any settlement funds be used to save lives through opioid treatment and prevention, including direct relief to victims and their families,” said Tong in a prepared statement.