‘Stunned’: Panel reacts to court blocking Purdue Pharma deal

(NewsNation) — The Supreme Court temporarily blocked a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would shield members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids.

Journalists Sam Quinones and Barry Meier, who have spent more than two decades reporting on Purdue Pharma, reacted to the latest developments during an appearance on NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”

“The Sackler family is so used to getting their way with the legal system to, you know, turning it into a way of creating transactions that benefits their company or them,” Meier said. “That it was astounding to me that they suddenly ran into this wall.”

Meier was the first journalist to expose the abuse of oxycontin and was part of the New York Times reporting team which won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting.

A new six-part limited series on Netflix, telling a fictionalized version of America’s opioid crisis, is based on his book “Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic.”

Quinones is also a renowned journalist, reporting on gangs and drug trafficking along the southern border.

“I can tell you that I’ve been stunned about this whole thing since the beginning,” Quinones said. “These are very powerful companies. And so I have to tell you, I am stunned that it’s gone this far.”

The deal would have allowed the company to emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used to fight the opioid epidemic. Members of the Sackler family would contribute up to $6 billion.

But a key component of the agreement would shield family members, who are not seeking bankruptcy protection as individuals, from lawsuits.

Justices agreed to a request from the Biden administration to put the brakes on the agreement and will hear arguments before the end of the year over whether the settlement can proceed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.