Purdue Pharma

A federal appeals court reversed a 2021 ruling that found bankruptcy court judges did not have the authority to shield from civil lawsuits members of the Purdue owners.

One lawsuit was filed by eight Northwest Florida counties and four cities, and another by Miami-Dade and two South Florida cities. They allege that McKinsey & Company “played an integral role in creating and deepening the opioid crisis.”

The deal, hashed out over weeks of intense negotiations, raises the amount paid by the Sacklers by more than $1 billion. In exchange, the family members win immunity from civil opioid lawsuits.

A federal judge has overturned a bankruptcy settlement worth more than $4 billion that granted immunity from opioid lawsuits to members of the family who owns the company that makes OxyContin.

Judge Colleen McMahon was expected to halt work on the controversial settlement that would give immunity from opioid lawsuits to the Sackler family. Instead she allowed work on the plan to go ahead.

The DOJ is seeking to block implementation of any part of the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy deal until legal challenges are settled. The deal granted Sackler family members immunity from opioid lawsuits.

The decision by a federal bankruptcy judge grants members of the family who own Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, sweeping protection from any liability for the opioid crisis.

With a federal judge poised to approve Purdue Pharma's controversial Chapter 11 plan, the company is working behind the scenes to preempt a legal challenge by the Justice Department.

Judge Robert Drain signaled he will approve the landmark bankruptcy for Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. But he called for new limits to legal protections for members of the Sackler family.

Two divisions of the DOJ argue the deal improperly shelters members of the Sackler family and their associates from liability. States are finalizing a separate deal with other opioid companies.