The US Department of Justice intends to appeal Purdue Pharma LP’s opioid settlement to the Supreme Court, an effort that could further delay payments to victims, a lawyer representing the drugmaker said on Thursday.
(Bloomberg) — The US Department of Justice intends to appeal Purdue Pharma LP’s opioid settlement to the Supreme Court, an effort that could further delay payments to victims, a lawyer representing the drugmaker said on Thursday.
The Supreme Court could decide whether to consider the appeal in late October or early November, said Marshall Huebner, an attorney for Purdue. The Justice Department earlier this month asked a federal appeals court to pause its approval of a $6 billion settlement between Purdue, its Sackler family owners, and victims of opioids.
Payments could be further delayed by Purdue’s 2020 deal to plead guilty to three felonies over its marketing of OxyContin because it requires the company be sentenced by a judge before the settlement goes into effect, Huebner said.
The Justice Department’s bankruptcy unit has opposed the settlement because it would essentially protect members of the Sackler family from liability in exchange for relinquishing their ownership of the company and money. Purdue and a committee representing opioid victims and other constituencies are opposing the Justice Department’s request to pause the settlement.
The Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program, which monitors Chapter 11, requested a pause in the settlement because of a quirk in bankruptcy law that prevents appeals if the transactions being challenged have already gone into effect.
Regardless of whether the federal appeals court decides to pause the settlement, Huebner said the deal cannot go into effect until December at the earliest.
Purdue filed bankruptcy in 2019 to resolve a wave of litigation accusing the business of fueling the opioid epidemic and has languished in Chapter 11 after a federal judge in December 2021 overturned the settlement with its owners.
The bankruptcy is Purdue Pharma LP, 19-23649, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
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