Watch Live: Supreme Court weighs legality of Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement

Watch live as the Supreme Court hears arguments around the legality of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement, on 4 December 2023.

As part of the Sackler Family’s deal to give up ownership of drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma, and for contributing $6 billion to fight the opioid crisis, members of the wealthy family would be exempt from civil lawsuits. They may potentially be able to keep billions in profits.

The Supreme Court will hear whether the agreement violates federal law. They’ll also ponder the issue of whether the legal shield that bankruptcy provides can or should be given to people such as the Sacklers, who haven’t declared bankruptcy themselves.

Family members have generally stayed out of the public eye, and they have stood down from their firm’s board of directors and have not received any dividends since before the company went bankrupt.

However, in the decade before that, they were paid more than $10 billion, about half of which, according to family members, went into taxes.