The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday turned away a novel case by Arizona seeking to recover billions of dollars that the state has said that members of the Sackler family — owners of Purdue Pharma LP — funneled out of the OxyContin maker before the company filed for bankruptcy in September, Reuters reported. The justices declined to take the rare step of allowing Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to pursue a case directly with the Supreme Court on the role the drugmaker played in the U.S. opioid epidemic that has killed tens of thousands of Americans annually in recent years. The lawsuit accused eight Sackler family members of funneling $4 billion out of Purdue from 2008 to 2016 despite being aware that the company faced massive potential liabilities over its marketing of opioid medications. Brnovich argued that the national importance of holding those responsible for the opioid crisis accountable justified taking the case directly to the justices. The case is among the thousands filed by states, counties and cities seeking to hold Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue, and in many cases the Sacklers, responsible for a U.S. opioid addiction crisis that since 1999 has resulted in more than 400,000 overdose deaths. The lawsuits accuse the company of deceptively marketing opioids by overstating their benefits and playing down the risks. Purdue filed for chapter 11 protection in September after reaching a tentative deal it values at $10 billion to resolve those cases.
