Will the Sacklers finally start paying out a multi-billion settlement to cities and states, tribes and individuals who are suffering from the opioid crisis? On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case which could determine. Americans who have lost loved ones due to overdoses do not agree on the desired outcome.
Will the Sackler family ever start giving cities, states, tribes, and people suffering from the opioid epidemic a multibillion settlement? On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could be decided. And Americans who have lost loved ones to overdoses are not all in agreement on the desired result, in part because of a major catch: The Sacklers, whose company Purdue Pharma has aggressively marketed OxyContin since the 1990s. They have merely agreed to pay if they are protected from potential legal action. Whether the law permits for a deal must be decided by the Supreme Court.
Families who are anxious for the money to be distributed for drug treatment and other services but also want the Sacklers to face justice for their role in peddling addictive prescriptions have found themselves in a difficult situation due to the case. Cheryl Juaire, a distraught Massachusetts parent who supports the payout, wrote to the court, saying,” I lost TWO SONS because of their actions,” and the New York Times reported that” NO ONE wants to see the Sacklers pay the full price more than me.” But knowing that others will suffer the same way I do every day is the sole thing that will make my private tragedy worse. A portion of the Justice Department objected to the liability immunity and asked the Supreme Court to weigh in, despite the fact that the majority of claimants supported the settlement. The settlement agreement, according to Justice Department attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar, enables the Sacklers to” shield billions of dollars of their fortune while killing, without payment, claims alleging trillion-dollar damages.” Ed Bisch, who founded Relatives Against Purdue Pharma after losing his son to an overdose in 2001, stated in the Washington Post that he is supporting the Justice Department:” No amount of money is for giving the architects of the opioid epidemic civil immunity for what they have done.”
The Supreme Court will decide whether the settlement is authorized rather than whether it benefits families. Businesses frequently include a liability shield during bankruptcy proceedings, and Purdue filed for Chapter 1 bankruptcy in 2019 about five years after the company began facing lawsuits for its part in the opioid epidemic. However, in this instance, the Sacklers are protected by that liability shield, a move that the Justice Department contends is unlawful because they did not declare bankruptcy on their own. Family members who are not involved in the bankruptcy proceedings cannot be shielded from potential claims, a US district court decided in 2021. If the Supreme Court overturns that decision, bankruptcy law in the US may be affected more broadly. Related issues of liability, such as the one Boy Scouts of America reached with thousands of people who claimed to have been sexually abused, are frequently important in high-profile bankruptcy settlements, according to the Post.
Purdue contends that because the settlement is based on the Sacklers ‘ own personal wealth, liability protection should also apply to them rather than just the business. The billions of dollars that will flow to communities across the country under the plan will actually save and help Countless Lives, according to a letter from attorney Gregory Garre, who is defending Purdue, to the court. The Sacklers have agreed to pay up to$ 6 billion, but Purdue has estimated that the settlement as a whole could be worth as much as$ 10 billion given the additional value of the overdose reversal medications and addiction treatment the company would provide. The agreement would even necessitate the company’s reorganization into Knoa Pharma, a brand-new company dedicated to combating the opioid crisis. ( The Sacklers claim that the$ 6 billion settlement represents the majority of the family’s drug profit between 2008 and 2017; the Times reports that their total OxyContin fortune is unknown. )
The epidemic keeps taking lives as the Supreme Court considers the evidence. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 300,000 people have died in the United States since 2000 as a result of prescription opioid overdoses. In 2022, more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses, the majority of which were caused by fentanyl and other chemical opioids. Purdue admitted guilt in 2020 to several national felonies related to its marketing of the addicting painkillers, according to some proponents of Sacklers ‘ settlement deal, so the Justice Department can also pursue criminal prosecution even if the payouts preclude legal lawsuits.
Relatives Against Purdue Pharma’s Bisch, however, is also not persuaded that the deal is a good one. He announced to the Washington Post that he and another settlement opponents would gather in front of the court. To get a seat for the hearing, he intends to arrive at five in the morning. Will the Sackler family ever start giving cities, states, tribes, and people suffering from the opioid epidemic a multibillion settlement? On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could be decided. Additionally, not all Americans who have lost loved ones to overdoses agree on the desired result.
Will the Sacklers finally start paying out a multi-billion settlement to cities and states, tribes and individuals who are suffering from the opioid crisis? On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case which could determine. Americans who have lost loved ones due to overdoses do not agree on the desired outcome.
– En ole varma. Sign up to the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter to keep informed about whether or not the Sackler family will eventually make payments of multibillion dollars to those affected by the opioid crisis, like cities and states. The Supreme Court is set to have verbal debates on Monday that could be determinative. Some Americans who have been affected by a family member overdosing may not agree with the resolution that the Sackler family, the owners of Purdue Pharma, have proposed since it protects them from future legal action; however, since the 1990’s the company Purdue Pharma has been widely-marketed of the drug OxyContin. The Supreme Court is faced with a difficult decision: determining the legality of the deal. Families are in a tough spot since they need the resources for drug rehabilitation programs and other assistance, but they nevertheless want the Sacklers to be held responsible for their part in selling opioids illegally. It is my hope and my prayer that the settlement will make a difference in the lives of those whose loved ones were taken by the greed of the Sacklers.”
Cheryl Juaire, whose two sons were victim of the Sacklers’ greed, passionately expressed her support for the proposed payment and wrote to the court that no one more than her wants them to reap the full consequences. She hopes and prays that the agreement will benefit those whose relatives were taken away because of the avarice of the Sacklers. The only thing that could worsen my individual misfortune is the knowledge of others enduring the same hardship I experience on a daily basis. Numerous claimants voted to accept the proposed settlement, however, the Department of Justice questioned the exemption from responsibility, and asked the Supreme Court to examine the decision.
