The US Supreme Court has invalidated a measure in Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy that would shield members of the company’s founding Sackler family from future civil liability in exchange for a $6bn contribution, in a closely watched case involving the maker of the opioid OxyContin.
The Department of Justice had sought to invalidate the comprehensive liability releases granted to the Sacklers, saying they could not be justified under existing US law. The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed in a 5-4 ruling.
But the high court’s majority stressed that its decision was a “narrow one” that did not “call into question consensual third-party releases offered in connection with a bankruptcy reorganisation plan”.
This is a developing story