Normally, any case before the Supreme Court has usually direct impact on industry and the billionaires that own them, which begs the question of what’s behind the Supreme Court Oxycontin review decision over the $6B settlement. That settlement provided the Sacklers with total immunity, which is utterly criminal since Oxycontin has been responsible for the dearths of 500,000 Americans.
Should the Supreme Court block the entirety of the settlement in favor of actual prison time for Richard Sackler and more settlement money, is the intent of SCOTUS to clean its image as a proponent of the American people? Or, is this an exercise to protect the industry in general by making white collar crime less accountable when it crosses the line of decency and shame? The hearing is due in December, and we won’t probably know until 2024 the reason for the sudden concern of the majority-conservative Justices on the bench.
Another smaller question we must ask. How will Justice Clarence Thomas deal with this case? That man is more concerned about kowtowing to the most conservative and richest men in this country than to his role as the protector of American rights under the Constitution.
Maybe the Supreme Court will finally address the issue of accountability against the Sackler family
SINCE 2004
The Oxycontin saga has been brewing since 2004 when West Virginia sued Purdue Pharma for misleading marketing tactics. Further lawsuits followed that delved into the addictive nature of the drug. To think that so many States have yet to hold Purdue and the Sackler family accountable for their crimes sounds just unreal. Especially that knowing about the addictive nature of the drug, which is a class 2 narcotic many around the world know as heroin. OxyContin remains a marketable drug.
It’s 2023 and there is still no closure to the families of those who lost loved ones. That’s almost 20 years since the first lawsuit.
Furthermore, the tobacco settlement of 1998 reached $260 Billions 46 States received, yet Purdue is settling for $6 Billions. Where is the justice in these numbers?
As of today, there is no clear path yet to holding any of the Sacklers legally responsible for their crimes, despite the death toll. Maybe the Supreme Court will finally address the issue of accountability against the Sackler family, and in particular against Richard Sackler the grand villain behind Oxycontin.
Let us hope so.