Attorney General Kathy Jennings released today the following statement on the Supreme Court of the United States’ ruling in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma:

“Today the Supreme Court issued a ruling that jeopardizes a $45 million opioid settlement that Delaware reached with Sackler family. While this represents a setback for us, we are not giving up. We fought for years to secure these funds, and we will continue to fight for what the Sacklers settled for.

The opioid crisis has devastated Delaware. We continue to suffer one of the highest fatal overdose rates in America, and are losing more than 500 of our sons and daughters each year. Delawareans are swimming against the tide, and it all began with the breathtaking greed of pharmaceutical giants like the Sacklers.

We spent years fighting to hold the Sacklers accountable despite their exploitation of the bankruptcy process. We were one of eight states whose efforts secured an extra $1 billion from the Sacklers — and effectively doubled Delaware’s settlement. Today’s ruling is frustrating for our team, who worked for years to get here. But make no mistake: the real stakes of this decision are borne by the thousands of Delawareans who can least afford a setback. The millions of dollars that Delaware secured for treatment and recovery stand to go a very long way in our little state. Tomorrow we will dust off and continue the fight to get our communities what they deserve from the Sacklers. Today, our hearts are with every person in this state who has lost a loved one, who is watching someone struggle, or who is on the winding road to recovery.”

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