The 5-4 decision reversed a lower court's ruling that had upheld the plan to give Purdue Pharma's owners immunity in exchange for paying up to $6bn to settle thousands of lawsuits accusing the company of unlawful misleading marketing of OxyContin.
The ruling represented a victory for US President Joe Biden's administration, which had challenged the settlement as an abuse of bankruptcy protections meant for debtors in financial distress, not for the wealthy Sackler family.
The case questioned whether US bankruptcy law allows Purdue Pharma's restructuring to include legal protections for the Sackler family members who have not filed for personal bankruptcy, expanding the use of such protections beyond asbestos litigation context.
Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy settlement was estimated to provide $10bn in value to creditors, with beneficiaries including state and local governments, individual addiction victims, and hospitals who sued the company.
[
add
]
[
|
|
...
]