Supreme Court Blocks Purdue Pharma Deal That Shields Sackler Family

The Supreme Court put OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement on hold Thursday in an order siding with the Biden administration’s request to reexamine provisions shielding the Sackler family from liability.

The single-page order does not contain a breakdown of the nine justices’ votes; it directs the parties to present their arguments before the high court in December.

The billionaire Sackler family, which controlled the pharmaceutical supplier since it was founded, has long been accused of unethically profiting off its addictive painkiller and fueling the nation’s opioid epidemic.

Purdue filed for bankruptcy in 2019 amid a flood of lawsuits from thousands of plaintiffs — including hundreds of Native tribes and most of the U.S. states ― over its aggressive OxyContin marketing strategies.