Supreme Court blocks settlement of OxyContin victims families
The Supreme Court has blocked a nationwide settlement that would have seen the families of OxyContin victims handed billions - after ruling the payout would have shielded members of the Sackler family who own drug maker Purdue Pharma.
After deliberating for more than six months, the justices in a 5-4 vote blocked an agreement hammered out with state and local governments and victims.
The decision reversed a ruling that had upheld the plan to give Purdue's owners immunity in exchange for paying up to $6 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits accusing the company of unlawful misleading marketing of OxyContin, a powerful pain medication introduced in 1996.
The Sacklers would have also given up ownership of the company but retained billions more.
The agreement provided that the company would emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used for treatment and prevention.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, said 'nothing in present law authorizes the Sackler discharge.'
A pharmacist holds a bottle OxyContin made by Purdue Pharma at a pharmacy in Provo, Utah, U.S., May 9, 2019
Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.
'Opioid victims and other future victims of mass torts will suffer greatly in the wake of today's unfortunate and destabilizing decision,' Kavanaugh wrote.
The court put the settlement on hold last summer in response to objections from the Biden administration. It's unclear what happens next.
This is a breaking news story.
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