And in the way of sudden windfalls, sometimes they disappear.

Medpage Today reports on the SCOTUS decision striking down the Purdue Pharma/Sackler Opioid Settlement.

On the same day Michigan's 2025 budget is announced. Wonder how much of the settlement has already been spent?

https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/opioids/110851

Supreme Court Rejects Purdue Pharma Settlement That Shielded Sacklers

— In a 5-4 decision, justices blocked an agreement with victims and state and local governments

by Associated Press      |     June 27, 2024

 

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a nationwide settlement with oxycodone hydrochloride (OxyContin) maker Purdue Pharma that would have shielded members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids but also would have provided billions of dollars to combat the opioid epidemic.

After deliberating over the case (Harrington v. Purdue Pharma) for more than 6 months, the justices in a 5-4 vote blocked an agreement hammered out with state and local governments and victims. The Sacklers would have contributed up to $6 billion and given up ownership of the company, but would have retained billions more. The agreement provided that the company would emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used for treatment and prevention.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, said "nothing in present law authorizes the Sackler discharge."

Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.

"Opioid victims and other future victims of mass torts will suffer greatly in the wake of today's unfortunate and destabilizing decision," Kavanaugh wrote.

The high court had put the settlement on hold last summer, in response to objections from the Biden administration.

It's unclear what happens next.

"Today's Supreme Court ruling marks a major setback for the families who lost loved ones to overdose and for those still struggling with addiction," Edward Neiger, a lawyer representing more than 60,000 overdose victims, said in a statement.

"The Purdue plan was a victim-centered plan that would provide billions of dollars to the states to be used exclusively to abate the opioid crisis and $750 million for victims of the crisis, so that they could begin to rebuild their lives. As a result of the senseless 3-year crusade by the government against the plan, thousands of people died of overdose, and today's decision will lead to more needless overdose deaths."

An opponent of the settlement praised the outcome.

Ed Bisch's 18-year-old son Eddie, died from an overdose after taking OxyContin in Philadelphia in 2001.

The older Bisch, who lives in New Jersey, has been speaking out against Purdue and Sackler family members ever since and is part of a relatively small but vocal group of victims and family members who opposed the settlement.

"This is a step toward justice. It was outrageous what they were trying to get away with," he said Thursday. "They have made a mockery of the justice system, and then they tried to make a mockery of the bankruptcy system."

He said he would have accepted the deal if he thought it would have made a dent in the opioid crisis.

He's now calling on the Department of Justice to seek criminal charges against Sackler family members.

Arguments in early December lasted nearly 2 hours in a packed courtroom as the justices seemed, by turns, unwilling to disrupt a carefully negotiated settlement and reluctant to reward the Sacklers.

The issue for the justices was whether the legal shield that bankruptcy provides can be extended to people such as the Sacklers, who have not declared bankruptcy themselves. Lower courts had issued conflicting decisions over that issue, which also has implications for other major product liability lawsuits settled through the bankruptcy system.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee, an arm of the Justice Department, argued that the bankruptcy law does not permit protecting the Sackler family from being sued. During the Trump administration, the government supported the settlement.

The Biden administration had argued to the court that negotiations could resume, and perhaps lead to a better deal, if the court were to stop the current agreement.

Proponents of the plan said third-party releases are sometimes necessary to forge an agreement, and federal law imposes no prohibition against them.

OxyContin first hit the market in 1996, and Purdue Pharma's aggressive marketing of it is often cited as a catalyst of the nationwide opioid epidemic, with doctors persuaded to prescribe painkillers with less regard for addiction dangers.

The drug and the Stamford, Connecticut-based company became synonymous with the crisis, even though the majority of pills being prescribed and used were generic drugs. Opioid-related overdose deaths have continued to climb, hitting 80,000 in recent years. Most of those are from fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.

The Purdue Pharma settlement would have ranked among the largest reached by drug companies, wholesalers, and pharmacies to resolve epidemic-related lawsuits filed by state, local, and Native American tribal governments and others. Those settlements have totaled more than $50 billion.

But the Purdue Pharma settlement would have been only the second so far to include direct payments to victims from a $750 million pool. Payouts would have ranged from about $3,500 to $48,000.

Sackler family members are no longer on the company's board, and they have not received payouts from it since before Purdue Pharma entered bankruptcy. In the decade before that, though, they were paid more than $10 billion, about half of which family members said went to pay taxes.

Here come the funds. Even without Purdue Pharma/Sackler, there are plenty of healthcare businesses being scalped paying a boatload of money.

WILX video and related articles available at the link, omitted here due to length.

https://www.wilx.com/2025/07/10/michigan-receives-part-720-million-settlement/

Michigan receives part of $720 million settlement

By Taylor Gattoni    |    Jul. 10, 2025

 

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Eight drug makers are facing nationwide settlements.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel making the announcement on Thursday.

The settlement comes as these companies manufactured opioid pills, worsening the nationwide opioid crisis worth around $720 million nationwide.

Michigan could receive up to $24.5 million from that settlement.

“We are seeing firsthand how these opioid settlements are making a real difference in our communities,” Nessel said. “I will continue to work alongside my colleagues across the country to hold these companies accountable and bring meaningful relief to the people and families impacted by this crisis.”

The total amount the eight defendants will pay in funds to address the opioid crisis as part of the deal are:

• Mylan (now part of Viatris): $284,447,916 paid over 9 years
• Hikma: $95,818,293 paid over one to 4 years
• Amneal: $71,751,010 paid over 10 years
• Apotex: $63,682,369 paid in a single year
• Indivior: $38,022,450 paid over 4 years
• Sun: $30,992,087 paid over one to 4 years
• Alvogen: $18,680,162 paid in a single year
• Zydus: $14,859,220 paid in a single year

In addition to these payments, several of the settlements allow states to receive free pharmaceutical products or cash in lieu of this product. Seven of the companies (not including Indivior) are prohibited from promoting or marketing opioids and opioid products, making or selling any product that contains more than 40 mg of oxycodone per pill, and are required to put in place a monitoring and reporting system for suspicious orders. Indivior has agreed to not manufacture or sell opioid products for the next 10 years, but it will be able to continue marketing and selling medications to treat opioid use disorder.

The Attorney General’s Office continues to take action in combatting the opioid crisis, resulting in over $1.6 billion dollars to Michigan governments through settlements with McKinsey & Co, Distributors (Cardinal Health, McKesson, Inc., and AmerisourceBergen), Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceutical, Allergan Pharmaceutical, CVS, Walmart, and Walgreens. The money is distributed to the state and local units of government for Opioid-use disorder treatment and remediation.

Analysis of provisional data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) indicates a 34% reduction in overdose deaths between 2023 and 2024 – about 1,000 fewer deaths. This continued progress reflects the impact of sustained, strategic investment in prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm-reduction efforts – many of which are made possible through additional funding received as a result of Michigan’s participation in the national opioid settlements.