A federal judge has rejected the maker of OxyContin’s large settlement.
The judge rejected Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement, which was meant to settle thousands of lawsuits over the opioid endemic. The judge said it was rejected due to a provision that would protect members of the Sackler family from facing legal trials.
Purdue Pharma said that it will be appealing the ruling, and will also simultaneously draft another plan in case the appeal does not go through to ensure creditors will agree to it. The company also said that this ruling will in no way effect the company’s operations, however, it will make it much more difficult for funds to be used to fight the ongoing opioid crisis, especially as the legal battle continues.
U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon ruled that federal bankruptcy laws do not allow for a bankruptcy judge to have the authority to permit this kind of release for individuals who are not themselves declaring bankruptcy.
The pharmaceutical company said that the latest ruling will delay, and even potentially end, the ability to demand reparations for the opioid crisis. Chairman of the Purdue board of directors, Steve Miller, said that the funds are needed now, especially as overdoses have hit horrifying record-highs.
More people in the U.S. are dying than ever before of drug overdoses. A new record high was hit last year, with an estimated 100,000 people dying from overdoses in the U.S., making it a bigger killer of Americans than guns, car crashes, and the flu. A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that overdose deaths rose by a shocking 28.5 percent in only a year.
More than 500,000 people have died from opioids in the U.S. in the past 20 years.
Purdue filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 following thousands of lawsuits agains the company, alleging that it pushed and encouraged doctors to prescribe OxyContin, ultimately sparking an opioid crisis.
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