The court’s swift scheduling of the case may indicate its awareness of the opioid issue, but legal experts predict that the ruling will focus narrowly on the liability shield rather than the public health crisis.
Adam Zimmerman, a mass tort law professor at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law, believes that the court, while not likely to address the opioid crisis in its opinion, is aware of the urgent need for resolution.
The Sacklers and Purdue play a significant role in the decades-old opioid crisis, with their drug OxyContin contributing to the epidemic. Despite facing fines and criminal charges, Purdue continued to aggressively market OxyContin.
The Sacklers, known for their charitable donations, faced growing scrutiny, leading many institutions to remove their name and and disassociate from Purdue’s owners.