U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York on Thursday vacated Purdue Pharma’s $4.3 billion bankruptcy settlement, finding that its controversial inclusion of a liability release for the Sackler family was not authorized by the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
The settlement was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in September, but the parties opposing the plan, including eight states and the District of Columbia, quickly appealed Drain’s ruling, and they were joined by the U.S. Department of Justice.
