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The Supreme Court is hearing arguments over a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would shield members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids. The agreement hammered out with state and local governments and victims would provide billions of dollars to combat the opioid epidemic. The Sacklers would contribute up to $6 billion and give up ownership, and the company would emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used for treatment and prevention. (Sherman, 12/4)

Families that have lost relatives to overdoses share plenty of outrage at Purdue Pharma, the bankrupt maker of OxyContin that has been accused in lawsuits of helping ignite the nation’s opioid crisis. But they are split over a legal challenge that could upend Purdue’s agreement to settle thousands of lawsuits and provide billions of dollars that underwrite state campaigns fighting addiction and that offer compensation to victims. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Monday about a controversial aspect of the company’s bankruptcy plan that shields Purdue owners the Sackler family from future lawsuits in exchange for the family’s contributing up to $6 billion and relinquishing control of the company. (Ovalle and Barnes, 12/3)

The revised deal is supported by all financial stakeholders in the case, including all state attorneys general, but is opposed by the Justice Department's bankruptcy watchdog and some individual opioid plaintiffs. Under the deal, the Sacklers would pay up to $6 billion to a trust that would be used to settle claims filed by states, hospitals, people who had become addicted and others who have sued Purdue. (Kruzel, 12/4)

Ellen Isaacs lost her son to an opioid overdose. But she wants none of the settlement money offered by the family that sold billions of the same OxyContin pills that got her boy hooked. Isaacs would rather see the family suffer years in court. “There’s not enough money that’s going to bring any of our kids back,” said Isaacs, 58 years old. (Gladstone, 12/3)

By the time Belmarie Lugo stepped into the treatment clinic in January 2022, her body was malnourished. Her connections to her family had fractured, and she estimates she had overdosed on heroin and fentanyl more than a dozen times. Now, nearly two years later, Lugo is in recovery. She’s mended her relationships with her parents and brother, and she is finally able to contemplate her future — something that was not possible in the past when she was under the influence of illicit opioids. (Brown, 12/3)