An American court annulled the bankruptcy agreement of the pharmaceutical company Purdue on Thursday, because it practically provides for the immunity of its owners, the Sackler family, in exchange for the granting of 4.5 billion dollars to the victims and institutions of the crisis. in the USA.
In its decision, which was consulted by Agence France-Presse, Judge Colin McMahon emphasized that the bankruptcy tribunal, which ratified the agreement in September, did not have jurisdiction to prohibit any future prosecution and prosecution of the family, with the exception of if it turns out that they acted with deceit.
Perdiu announced immediately after the announcement of this decision that she intends to appeal.
The bankruptcy plan of the industry that produced the powerful opioid analgesic OxyContin had secured the support of the vast majority of its loyalists and more than 40 US states.
But several parties have decided to appeal, including a representative of the Ministry of Justice and nine states.
The deal, they argued, did not allow the victims to be heard or possibly reopened to justice against the Sacklers.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland welcomed yesterday’s decision, saying in a press release that the bankruptcy court “had no right to deprive victims of the opioid crisis of the right to sue the Sackler family.”
“This is a huge victory for justice and the obligation to speak out,” which will reopen the issue of Perdio’s much-contested bankruptcy and “force the Sackler family to come face to face with the devastation it has caused.” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who had also appealed.
Percy’s aggressive promotion of OxyContin, at the urging of the Sacklers, despite knowing how addictive its active ingredient was, is considered by many to be the trigger for the opioid crisis – which has been attributed to more than 500,000 deaths in the last 20 years in the US.
Perdy, Sackler and OxyContin have now become symbols of the extremes of a pharmaceutical industry ready to do anything to make a profit.
The pharmaceutical industry declared a moratorium on payments in September 2019, proposing a bankruptcy plan to get rid of the avalanche of lawsuits against it and agree to admit its guilt.
In its ruling, Judge McMahon acknowledged that lifting Shackler’s immunity would “almost certainly lead to the cancellation of a diligently planned project”, which also had positive elements, such as funding opioid detoxification programs.
Perdy’s board chairman, Steve Miller, said the decision “will delay, and possibly end, the ability of our creditors, communities and individuals to receive billions of dollars” to mitigate the effects of the opioid crisis.
Washington’s Justice Minister Bob Ferguson also welcomed yesterday’s decision: “There can be no two justice systems, one for ordinary Americans and one for billionaires,” he said, adding that “I am ready to continue fight to the highest court, if necessary, to ensure the true accountability of the Sackler family. ”
The plan foresaw that the company would close by 2024 and be succeeded by a new scheme, which would be managed entirely by a trust. In addition to selling OxyContin for “legitimate” purposes (s.s. for cancer patients and other patients in acute pain), it will offer, for free or at a very cheap price, drugs to prevent death from opioid overdose and addiction treatment opioids. The members of the Sackler family pledged $ 4.32 billion, in addition to the $ 225 million they paid to the Department of Justice.
However, yesterday’s decision raises questions about the amounts provided for in the agreement. Perdyu had secured more than $ 10 million for the Sackler family in the decade before the industry declared a moratorium on payments.
One week ago, the famous New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (MoMA) and the Sacklers, who have been promoting themselves as art lovers and philanthropists for decades, announced an agreement under which the family name will be removed from seven showrooms.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
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Source From: Capital
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