Oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the U.S. Department of Justice's request to delay its multi-billion-dollar bankruptcy settlement resolving thousands of lawsuits against it over the opioid epidemic, Reuters reported.The department's bankruptcy watchdog last week asked the Supreme Court to pause the settlement, which would shield the company's Sackler family owners from opioid lawsuits in exchange for a $6 billion contribution to a broader settlement with states, local governments and victims of addiction. The Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the high court to put the deal on hold after a federal appeals court rejected a proposed delay. Purdue on Friday argued that a delay would be destructive, imperiling a settlement that has the support of all major stakeholders, including state attorneys general and people affected by the opioid crisis. The DOJ's position would "take billions of dollars out of opioid abatement programs that are sorely needed" and potentially "deprive victims of any meaningful recovery" if the deal falls apart, Purdue's lawyers wrote. That position was echoed by a group representing 60,000 people who have filed personal injury opioid claims in Purdue's bankruptcy.
