Press Release  AG Campbell Issues Statement On Supreme Court Decision Overturning Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Plan

Boston — Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell issued the following statement in response to the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P., reversing the decision of the Second Circuit and effectively vacating the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan. 

“It is no secret that members of the Sackler family, through their control of Purdue, fueled the opioid crisis, devastating countless lives in the pursuit of profit. The Sacklers must and will be held responsible, and, in the wake of this decision, we will use every power available to us to make sure that occurs.  My office will continue our nation-leading work to obtain the funding that is desperately needed to save lives, restore communities and fight the opioid epidemic in the Commonwealth,” said AG Campbell. 

ON BACKGROUND:

• On June 12, 2018, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts filed the first lawsuit by any state against members of the Sackler family and other executives and directors of Purdue Pharma, the maker of opioid drugs, including OxyContin. 
• The suit alleged that Purdue and its executives and directors deceived doctors and the public to get more people on addictive opioids, at higher doses, for longer periods of time, causing thousands of Massachusetts residents to suffer, overdose, or die. 
• After Purdue filed for bankruptcy in 2019, a court put the litigation involving Purdue, including the Massachusetts lawsuit, on hold.
• In July 2021, the Commonwealth announced with other states a settlement involving Purdue and the Sacklers that would have required billions of dollars to be paid for prevention, treatment, and recovery programs in Massachusetts and communities across the country.  The settlement would also have required that tens of millions of documents be made public, bringing transparency to Purdue’s history of misconduct. In exchange for a release of liability, the Sacklers agreed to pay a multistate coalition a total of $5.5 billion, of which Massachusetts was expected to receive as much as $110 million. 
• In 2021, the bankruptcy court approved Purdue’s bankruptcy plan, which included the states’ settlements. In August 2023, the Supreme Court granted certiorari and put the bankruptcy plan on hold while it reviewed a challenge to the legality of the plan.
• In today’s decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Purdue’s bankruptcy plan was not authorized under the U.S. bankruptcy code insofar as it sought to effectively discharge claims against the Sacklers without the consent of affected bankruptcy claimants. The Court remanded the case to the lower court for further proceedings.    

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