US supreme court halts Purdue Pharma deal that shields Sacklers from lawsuits

Court agrees to hear challenge from Biden administration to legality of OxyContin maker’s bankruptcy settlement

The US supreme court has agreed to hear a challenge by Joe Biden’s administration to the legality of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement that would shield its owners from the Sackler family from lawsuits over their role in the country’s opioid epidemic.

The court also paused bankruptcy proceedings concerning Purdue and its affiliates and said in a brief order that it would hold oral arguments in December in the administration’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling upholding the settlement. The court’s new term begins in October.

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