The highest American court also agrees to take up the case and hear the parties in December 2023. It asks them to present their arguments to it to determine whether the Bankruptcy Code authorizes a court to validate this type of immunity without the consent potential future complainants.
Bankruptcy plan
The company said it was “optimistic” about the Supreme Court’s approval of its bankruptcy plan but lamented that the Justice Department’s appeal would result in “delaying the payment of billions of dollars in compensation to victims “.
The Sackler family are accused of years of backing heavy-handed promotion of the painkiller OxyContin, despite being aware of its highly addictive nature.
The overprescription of this opiate is generally considered to be the trigger for a crisis that has claimed more than half a million victims in 20 years in the United States.
Targeted by an avalanche of lawsuits, the laboratory declared bankruptcy in 2019 and has since been negotiating a plan, the latest version of which provides for its closure by 2024 in the United States for the benefit of a new entity and the payment of at least minus $5.5 billion over 18 years.
“Abuse of the system”
In its argument to the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice criticizes this plan, validated by a decision of a Federal Court of Appeal, of “absolutely, unconditionally, irrevocably, completely, finally and forever exonerating” the family Sackler from any potential opioid-related civil lawsuits.
This exemption “is not permitted by the Bankruptcy Code and constitutes an abuse of the bankruptcy system”, he believes.
2023-08-11 06:25:21
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