Protesters plead for justice as Supreme Court hears oral argument in Purdue bankruptcy case
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – “Sacklers lie! People die!” protesters could be heard chanting outside the Supreme Court, as the justices heard oral arguments in the case of Harrington v Purdue Pharma L.P. Monday morning.
“I came today because I lost my son, Eddie, in Philadelphia in 2001,” protester Edward Bisch said. “All the parents want justice.”
Whether the protesters will get the ruling they want remains to be seen. The case centers around the deal reached in 2021 regarding Purdue Pharma’s and the Sackler family’s role in the opioid crisis that has plagued America.
“The Sacklers want all the benefits of bankruptcy without being in bankruptcy,” Bisch asserted. “Well, my dead son does not release them, and I don’t release them!”
In exchange for giving up ownership of drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma and for contributing up to $6 billion to fight the crisis, members of the wealthy Sackler family, who haven’t declared bankruptcy, would be exempt from any civil lawsuits. Opponents of the deal point out that, if the deal goes through, the Sacklers could potentially keep billions of dollars from their profits on OxyContin sales.
Lawyers for more than 60,000 victims who support the settlement called the deal “a watershed moment in the opioid crisis,” while recognizing that “no amount of money could fully compensate” victims for the damage caused by the misleading marketing of OxyContin, a powerful prescription painkiller.
Meanwhile, protesters like Bisch want to be able to level criminal charges against the Sackler family. “Criminal charges are still on the table. The evidence is out there, it’s been out there, they just have to act on it,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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