In a recent Law360 article , “High Court Made Profound Mistake in Tossing Purdue Deal,” Morningstar Law Group Partner Swain Wood discusses the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 27 decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma LP to throw out Purdue Pharma’s Chapter 11 plan and the multistate settlement agreement. Wood helped lead the negotiations that crafted that multistate agreement, along with a number of others that are part of the $50 billion national opioid settlements, while serving as First Assistant Attorney General of North Carolina.
Wood explains that the hard-fought agreement, based on claims that Purdue Pharma sales of OxyContin played a major role in creating the U.S. opioid crisis, brought together all 50 states and thousands of other public entity-claimants to provide nearly $7 billion in much-needed relief to help local communities across the country fight the opioid epidemic.
The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision to throw out the Purdue settlement threatens to turn $7 billion in desperately needed relief into nearly nothing.
Claimants will now face formidable obstacles to effectively pursue the Sacklers individually. Even if a substantial collective recovery is somehow achieved, thousands of people who could have been helped will suffer – and some will die – during the time it takes for those efforts to play out.
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