A U.S. judge yesterday questioned whether members of the Sackler family that owned Purdue Pharma abused the bankruptcy system, as she considers whether to overturn a ruling that shielded the Sacklers from liability over the opioid epidemic, Reuters reported. U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan said that she wanted more information about more than $10 billion that the Sacklers, according to court documents, received from Purdue between 2008 and 2018, when they left the company’s board. “I’m looking for whether there was abuse,” she said during a hearing. One Sackler family lawyer replied that there was no evidence to suggest abuse. The Sacklers have denied wrongdoing and did not themselves file for bankruptcy. They contributed $4.5 billion to the bankruptcy settlement in exchange for protection against future litigation. Judge McMahon's remarks came during arguments over appeals of a bankruptcy court’s approval in September of Purdue’s reorganization plan, which included releases of future opioid-related civil claims against the Sacklers. The U.S. Department of Justice’s bankruptcy watchdog and a small group of states are challenging the plan's approval, claiming the Sacklers should not receive the legal protections it provides. Judge McMahon suggested that the Sacklers may have protected their wealth by taking as much money from Purdue as they could in the years before the bankruptcy. “People were aware claims were going to be asserted. Advisors told them to take steps to protect the family,” she said.
