Purdue Pharma’s $6 Billion Opioid Settlement Blocked by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily blocked a settlement reached with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that required members of the Sackler family who once controlled the company to pay $6 billion but shielded them from future lawsuits over the nation’s opioid crisis.

The high court’s decision, which was unsigned and noted no dissents, came in response to a request from the Biden administration to put the settlement reached last year between Purdue and state and local governments on hold. The Supreme Court also agreed to hear arguments in the case later this year.

A federal appeals court in New York approved the company’s bankruptcy plan earlier this year. But a U.S. government trustee, part of the Justice Department, last month asked the Supreme Court to put that ruling on hold. The government argues lower courts should not have shielded the Sacklers from liability.