I guy can dream! Hey, I'm not saying I'm ready to forgive those idiots for R v W, but this could be a step in the right direction? God, I hope those guys end up penniless.
Supreme Court Blocks Purdue Pharma’s $6 Billion Sackler Opioid Settlement
The justices will examine if bankruptcy courts can force claimants to sign away their legal rights in a settlement
Prescription painkiller OxyContin is made by Purdue Pharma.
By Jess Bravin and Alexander Saeedy, WSJ
Updated Aug. 10, 2023 5:16 pm ET | WSJ Pro
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court blocked Purdue Pharma’s $6 billion settlement of opioid lawsuits against its Sackler family owners, agreeing to hear the Justice Department’s claim that the drugmaker’s bankruptcy plan improperly wipes out potential liability to additional parties for allegedly fueling the addiction crisis.
The justices ordered an expedited schedule for hearing the case, setting oral arguments for December. In a brief unsigned order, the court said it would consider whether the bankruptcy code permits a chapter 11 reorganization “that extinguishes claims held by nondebtors against nondebtor third parties, without the claimants’ consent.”
The case hinges on the jurisdiction of the nation’s bankruptcy courts—whether they can sign away legal claims that a bankrupt company’s creditors have against third parties, such as insiders like Purdue’s owners. The court’s decision on the proposed deal, which Purdue needs to leave bankruptcy, is expected before July 2024.
The Justice Department has taken the position that the Sacklers, as owners of Purdue, can’t use its bankruptcy case to receive a release of all opioid claims against them. Bankruptcy courts have no authority to force creditors to sign away their legal rights if they don’t like the settlement terms being offered in chapter 11, according to the department’s bankruptcy watchdog, the Office of the U.S. Trustee.
Purdue Pharma said it was “confident in the legality of our nearly universally supported Plan of Reorganization, and optimistic that the Supreme Court will agree.” The drugmaker said the U.S. Trustee “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.”
The Justice Department declined to comment.
The Sacklers have required such a release from liability as a condition of paying a $6 billion settlement that would end Purdue’s bankruptcy and mark one of the largest legal settlements stemming from the opioid epidemic.
Purdue filed for bankruptcy in 2019, besieged by thousands of lawsuits from state and local governments alleging that it oversupplied its flagship drug, the addictive painkiller OxyContin. Many lawsuits filed by state governments, municipalities and victims of opioid addiction against privately owned Purdue also named the closely held company’s family owners, who have denied wrongdoing.
The company, nearly all its creditors and the Sacklers reached a proposed settlement shielding the family members from current and future civil opioid lawsuits in exchange for funding for opioid-abatement programs and compensation for people harmed by Purdue’s products.
Legal releases for nonbankrupt parties to a chapter 11 case are contentious. Appeals courts have made contradicting rulings on whether these types of releases are allowed in a bankruptcy case, setting the stage for the Supreme Court to finally settle the question.
The Justice Department has argued that nonconsensual releases are open to abuse, while Purdue and its creditors have argued that granting full releases to the Sacklers will expedite payments to communities around the country to combat opioid misuse.
If a majority of the nine justices rule that the $6 billion deal can’t proceed, that could send the company, its creditors and the Sacklers back to the drawing board, threatening Purdue’s survival.
Write to Jess Bravin at Jess.Bravin@wsj.com and Alexander Saeedy at alexander.saeedy@wsj.com
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