Supreme Court blocks Purdue settlement in major blow to local governments fighting opioids

The Supreme Court ripped up a controversial bankruptcy deal that would have provided billions of dollars to states devastated by the opioid epidemic and shielded the controversial family accused of pushing pharmaceutical painkillers in search of profit. Amna Nawaz explored the details and impact of the Purdue Pharma case with Brian Mann.

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Amna Nawaz: Well, the decision to reject the opioid settlement is a major blow to states, to local governments, individuals, and tribes, all expecting more than $6 billion.

For more on the court’s decision, we are joined now by Brian Mann, who covers this as NPR’s national addiction correspondent.

Brian, it’s worth underscoring here what you have reported on for a long time, that more than 300,000 Americans have died from opioid overdoses since the year 2000. Just briefly remind us about the roles played by Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family in the making of that crisis.

Brian Mann, National Addiction Correspondent, National Public Radio: Yes, so when Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin under the leadership of members of the Sackler family, they pushed hard and marketed this medication as lower-risk, something that more doctors, more dentists, more people across the medical industry could prescribe almost casually.

And it turns out OxyContin was highly addictive. It opened the floodgate to this addiction and overdose death crisis that we’re still in the middle of now. We’re seeing 100,000 opioid and drug deaths every year in the United States. And a lot of public health experts say the opening gate of that was Purdue Pharma marketing of OxyContin.

Amna Nawaz: So the tribes, the states, the families who all wanted to see this deal go through, now it is not. What are you hearing from them in the way of a reaction?

Brian Mann: There’s a really complicated, mixed reaction out there.

A lot of these people say, yes, they want members of the Sackler family, who deny any wrongdoing, held accountable for their role in the opioid crisis. But, at the same time, the family was offering this $6 billion chunk of cash out there.

Amna Nawaz: Oh, I apologize to our viewers at home. Brian, I’m so sorry. We seem to have lost your audio. We thank you so much for joining us tonight.

That’s Brian Mann, NPR’s national addiction correspondent.

Thank you.