Justice Department fights $4.5billion Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement that will protect the Sackler family from lawsuits over the opioid crisis
The Justice Department has challenged a bankruptcy deal that would see the Sackler family pay $4.5billion and sell off drug-maker Purdue - but would mean they cannot be sued again over the drug which sparked America's opioid crisis.
The settlement was approved earlier this month by bankruptcy judge Robert Drain and has the support of the Sackler family and some victim groups.
But the Justice Department has now asked that the settlement be put on hold so it can challenge the deal in the higher courts, branding it 'unconstitutional'.
States attorneys from Washington, Maryland, Oregon and Connecticut have also come out in opposition to the deal, saying it lets the Sacklers 'off the hook'.
The Justice Department has challenged a deal that would see the Sackler family - makers of Oxycontin - pay $4.5bn and sell drug-making firm Purdue, but avoid all future lawsuits
In a court filing released Wednesday, Justice Department Trustee William Harrington argues the deal falls short of providing accountability for the nationwide addiction crisis that caused more than 500,000 overdose deaths in the United States over the past 20 years.
The agreement 'harms both the public and countless individuals by extinguishing the rights that opioid victims hold against possibly thousands of Sackler Family members and associated parties.'
If the settlement is allowed to proceed, there will be no 'full accounting' of these individuals and groups' roles in the 'opioid disaster,' the government argues.
Mr Harrington argues the money that would be gained from future victim lawsuits against the Sacklers are a form of property that is protected by the constitution and cannot be taken away without giving people their day in court.
Facing an avalanche of litigation, Purdue last year pled guilty to three criminal charges over its aggressive drive to push sales of OxyContin, a highly addictive prescription painkiller.
Under the terms of the deal, the company will be sold by 2024 to be replaced by a new entity managed by a trust, and its involvement in selling opioid products will be restricted.
Purdue also will be required to create a repository for tens of millions of documents detailing its sales and marketing practices.
The Sacklers have welcomed the deal, saying it avoids litigation that could take years to resolve, though detractors including Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson have argued it lets the families 'off the hook.'
Like many American billionaires, the Sacklers have made donations to prestigious institutions such as the Met Museum in New York. Many of the institutions now ban their donations.
The family's fortune diminished amid the crisis, but was still estimated at around $10.8 billion late last year, according to Forbes, which said much of that wealth came from Purdue.
Several states attorneys, including William Tong of Connecticut, are also challenging the deal saying it lets the Sackler family 'off the hook'
